Holding onto Something VERSION II
by vampdevil223
Summary: Memories lost long ago, they will finally be revealed in this second adventure with Nira and her brother Sora along with their many friends. Questions will be answered and things remembered that can never be forgotten again.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Beginning of the Journey

It had been almost a year since Nira had last seen her brother Sora or her friend Riku. She and Sora had been separated when Kingdom Hearts closed all that time ago. Nira knew that the reason she went with Kairi back to Destiny Island was to keep her safe but the fact that she wanted to help her brother overpowered that. Also, the fact that all the people of their home world remembered who Riku was but they had no clue who Sora was. People thought Nira had just made him up and even Kairi didn't remember him and Sora had been the closest to her.

Nira thought this was a cruel joke being played on her by the Darkness. She thought that she was never going to see her brother again and that this was also her punishment for searching for who she truly was. But now she was alone thinking of the people she had lost over the past year and the possibility that she was never going to see them again. But she didn't know was that soon she was going to have most of her unanswered questions answered and also was going to see people she hadn't seen since she was very small.

One night, Nira heard the sound of her brother calling her name. She shot up in bed and looked around the room. "Nira," she heard her brother call her name like he was in the room. Her heart began to jump up and down in her chest as she thought he had finally come home and that what she had been going through for the past year was nothing but a dream. Nira turned the light on by her bed and realized that her brother was not in her room but she could still hear his voice.

She heard the voice again and realized it was coming from outside her house. "Nira," It seemed to be taunting her. She got dressed in some clothes and then walked out of her house, trying all the while not to wake her parents. As she walked towards the beach she heard the sound of her brother in her ear over and over. When she was on the beach was when she heard the voice even louder, like it was calling to her. "Sora, where are you?" Nira asked as she looked around the darkened beach. Tears started to form in her eyes.

"Nira,"

Nira turned her head and realized the voice was coming from the island that she hadn't set foot on in a year. She hadn't been near that island since her brother and Riku had disappeared. Not even Kairi would go there because she felt there was something missing and until she found that missing something; she wouldn't go to the island. Nira ran down to the docks at the other end of the beach and got into one of the boats. The whole way to the island she thought of what she would find when she got there. She didn't know if her brother was going to be there or if she would find nothing. She looked up at the sky and could tell there was something going on.

When Nira docked at the island; she got off the boat and walked along the beach. She then looked up and saw there was a portal on the islet where the Paopu tree was. Nira ran up the stairs and across the bridge, when she was near the portal she heard. "Nira," It was louder than ever before and she thought he was screaming her name. Nira needed to help her brother and she needed to go through the portal in order to be where she needed to be. She felt the force wrap around her and felt like she was falling into another universe; she was away from all she knew and going to a place where she had been a long time ago.

"I'm coming Sora, don't worry."


	2. Chapter I: Roxas

Chapter One

Roxas

When Nira opened her eyes she found herself in a forest. She looked around and noticed that there was nothing but trees. "Where the heck am I?" Nira asked as she got up and walked around the forest. She wanted to know where the portal had taken her.

As she was walking through the forest Nira saw someone run by her. It was a young man about her age; with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes that looked so familiar that she thought she was seeing a ghost. Nira decided to follow him through the woods and see where he was going. The boy ran to the front of a huge mansion and from what Nira could see he was confused about why he was there. Nira studied the boy from behind a tree and realized he looked a lot like her brother. "Sora?" she asked herself. She then shook her head and realized that the boy could never be Sora; he looked too different but she still got the same feeling about him; like she had known him all her life.

All of the sudden, so sudden that it made Nira jump, these creatures came up from the ground; they did not look too friendly. What shocked Nira even more was that the boy summoned a Keyblade and all the creatures began attacking her. Nira thought about how the boy could handle a Keyblade when only Nira and Sora were the only ones chosen to wield them. _He has to be connected to Sora, somehow. _Nira thought and after a while she saw the boy being overridden by the creatures and knew she needed to help if he could possibly have clues to where her brother was. Nira closed her eyes and prayed for something to happen so she would be able to fight. She then felt something in her hand. She opened her eyes and a smile lit up her face. She had her Keyblade back. "Finally!" She said under her breath.

Nira jumped out from behind the tree and started attacking some of the creatures all the while seeing the shocked look on the boy's face. She defeated about five of the creatures before there was a small break. She saw the boy looking at her and turned to face him. "Who are you, and how can you handle a Keyblade?" he asked pointing to the weapon.

"My name is Nira, and I can handle a Keyblade because I was chosen as one of the masters of it. I've been using a Keyblade for almost a year. What's your name, and how can you handle one?" she turned the question back on the boy.

"My name is Roxas and…" Before Roxas could finish more creatures appeared. After defeating what felt like 100 of the creatures, Roxas asked. "What are these things?"

"I thought you knew." Nira replied.

They were backed up against the steel gate of the mansion with the creatures closing in. Nira looked up at the gate and saw a giant keyhole; she then quickly looked down at Roxas' Keyblade. "Roxas!" Nira called his name to get his attention. She pointed up at the keyhole. "You need to point your Keyblade at the lock to open the gate."

Roxas knew he could trust Nira and he turned around pointing the Keyblade at the lock. A beam of light came out of the tip of it and into the lock. Nira was reminded of when she and her brother would seal the keyholes to the worlds that they visited; she missed that. Even when the gate had opened the creatures kept coming and coming; the two knew they needed to get into the mansion. They started running to the front door; Nira took one last look at the front gate before they entered and saw a man all dressed in black starting to fight off the creatures. Nira had no time to concentrate on the man before they got inside the mansion.

When she and Roxas walked into the foyer of the mansion more of the creatures appeared, these being smaller and easier to defeat. After they were all gone Nira looked around the mansion then back to Roxas who was looking around as well. They needed to search the mansion if they were to find any clues to what they were both looking for. "We need to go up there." She heard Roxas say as he pointed to the left side of the staircase. Nira nodded and followed him up the stairs and down the hall.

They came to a set of large double doors, Nira was about to open them when Roxas stopped her. She looked at him, confused. "Stay here, I'm the only one who's supposed to enter." Still confused, Nira just nodded and stepped aside watching Roxas enter the room and closing the door. After it was completely closed she placed an ear up to it, hoping to hear what was going on inside.

Roxas walked into the room, everything was painted white, so white that it was almost blinding. All around there were different drawings on the walls. He knew Namine had drawn them and their contents were mostly about the Organization. He got to one of the drawings that depicted a man running out of a building; the man looked a lot like him. A painful ringing then pierced his eardrums causing him to fall to his knees. He started screaming; then everything went black.

_He was walking through what looked like a city; he was dressed all in black just like the man outside and Axel wore. It looked like _he_ was on a mission and on his way out of the city; hopefully to get some answers about what was happening to him. He then heard Axel's voice. "Your mind's made up?" he asked._

_ Roxas turned to face the flame-haired man. "Why did the Keyblade choose me?" The same question that Roxas had been kicking himself about over the past couple days. "I have to know!" That was the reason he was leaving, he needed to know what was going on and get answers to his questions. Why was this happening to him? _

_ Axel turned away from where he was standing, stating with worry and determination in his eyes. "You can't turn on the Organization!" _

_ Then everything faded. _

The ringing stopped bringing Roxas back to his senses; he turned around and saw Namine sitting at the end of the table in the middle of the room. She seemed very calm and he certainly wasn't at the moment. "Organization XIII…they're a bad group." He stated.

Namine looked at Roxas and replied. "Good or bad…I don't know." She was looking him right in the eyes. "They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end their desperately searching for something."

"What?" he asked.

Namine continued to look at Roxas.

All the while Nira was outside the door listening to the conversation between the mysterious girl, who sounded a lot like Kairi, and Roxas.

While she was waiting for their conversation to continue; she was halted by the feeling of someone behind her. "You were always so curious, Nira." A man was standing a couple feet away from her, dressed in a red cloak, his face wrapped in bandages of the same color.

"Who are you?" She asked, alarmed.

"Oh, don't run, Nira. I am a friend; you need not fear me. I have come to tell you that things are going to be different in your life from this moment on. Also, that your new friend Roxas isn't as he seems; he's different from other people. He's actually not even a person at all. But you don't need to worry about that. Everything will play out in the meantime." He then disappeared before Nira could even open her mouth. He had been nothing but a hologram.

Now Nira was left with a lot more information and questions that she thought her head might explode; she leaned against the door heaving a huge sigh.

She then heard the man's voice inside of the room, catching her attention. She placed her ear to the door once more.

"There's no knowledge that has the power to change your fate."

"Even if it doesn't, I want to know. I have the right to know!" Roxas exclaimed.

"A Nobody doesn't have the right to know. Nor does it have the right to be." Roxas was taken aback. _What the hell was a Nobody? _He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"But what IS a Nobody?" Roxas asked.

Before the man could answer another appeared in the room.

Nira heard the other man speak.

Roxas recognized him; he was the man who had fought off the creatures in the front of the mansion. "DiZ, we're out of time! Too many Nobodies!"

The voice was familiar to Nira but she couldn't remember where she had heard it.

A portal opened next to the man called DiZ. Namine was standing in front of it looking worried and trapped. "Roxas, Nobodies like us are only half a person. You won't disappear. You'll become whole." She touched the spot where her heart was.

"I…disappear…?" Roxas asked, starting to get scared.

DiZ turned to the man dressed in the cloak and stepped forward. "No further outbursts!" He grabbed Namine by her arms. She struggled against him but he was too strong.

"No, you WON'T disappear!" She yelled. DiZ placed a hand over her mouth to silence her.

"Wait," Roxas said. He ran towards her but the man in the black cloak blocked the way. Namine removed DiZ's hand.

"Roxas! We'll meet again. And we can talk about everything. I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we'll meet again. Someday soon. I promise!" She then faded into the portal.

"Let her go!" Roxas called to DiZ. But it was too late. They were already gone. "Namine." He called to her. By they were gone. Roxas was left alone questioning things more and more. He didn't know where to go from there and if there was even a point. Then he thought of Nira and how she seemed just as determined to find answers like he was. He knew he couldn't let her down. He sighed and walked to the door leading to the hallway.

Nira had tears running down her face; she couldn't believe what she had heard from the man. How he had been so cruel to Roxas. She moved her head from the door so she wouldn't get hit when it opened. She also wiped the tears from her eyes. She didn't want him to see that she had been crying. She stood up, watching Roxas walk out of the room with his head hanging low. She knew he was scared and so was she. Nira didn't know if she was going to make it out of the mansion alive let alone with her brother.

Roxas turned to her. His blue eyes were shining in the light that was coming in from the outside. They were strikingly blue. "You were listening, weren't you?" he asked.

Nira nodded trying to hide the returning tears. Even though she had only known Roxas for about an hour; she felt like they had a connection. "Yes," she confessed. She wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry." At first, Roxas jumped back but then he was just happy that someone cared about him. "I know we just met but I'm going to help you Roxas. I'm looking for answers too." She closed her eyes and let some tears cascade down her cheeks.

"Thank you." Roxas replied, letting some tears fall from his eyes as well. He was happy to have someone on his side during this time, since all of Twilight Town seemed to act like he never existed. Right now, Nira was his only friend.

They broke away and continued to the other side of the staircase. They fought off some more of the creatures and finally made it to the other door. They walked into the door noticing that it was a giant library with a wooden table in the center. As they got closer the two noticed that there were symbols drawn on the table. One was missing. "Do you know the last marking?" Nira recognized one of them as the symbol for the Heartless but the other two she was completely clueless about.

Roxas nodded and took out a crayon and drew the last symbol on the table. Once all three symbols were drawn they began to glow brightly. They ran to the outskirts of the room and watched as most of it disappeared, revealing what looked like a basement with a set of stairs leading down to it.

Nira and Roxas walked down the stairs all the while nervous about what was to come and what they would find down there. When they got to the end of the stairs they saw there was a door at the end of the room. Nira walked to the door with Roxas following her.

They walked into a room that looked like some sort of lab; there was a huge computer with monitors and buttons. Nira looked up at the computer reading the data on the screen; she nearly fell to the floor when she finished reading it. It was her brother's data and information; he had been, where ever the hell she was, this entire time. "Sora, where are you?" she asked herself, quietly.

While Nira looked at the monitors, Roxas moved to the other side of the room where there were some more screens. In an instant, the ear piercing ringing came back into his ears, more painful than ever before. He yelled, grabbing his head and falling to the floor. Everything went black once again.

_ He was falling into a conference room. It had high seats and everyone was dressed in the same black cloaks as the mysterious man, Axel and Roxas had been wearing. Most of their faces were covered but some who weren't looked familiar like he had seen them in another life. But then his vision focused on one seat in particular, there in the seat was, himself. He was really part of the Organization. _

_ It went black again and shifted to where he was being chased by silver Nobodies. His heart racing as he tried to get away. _

_ Another flash, and he was back to where he had defeated the blindfolded silver haired boy. "Why? Why do you have the Keyblade?" The boy demanded. _

_ Roxas took a quick glance at the Keyblade then back at the boy. "Shut up." He went in for another attack but the boy blocked it, knocking Roxas to the ground. His head hurt like hell. Right before he blacked out though, he saw the boy coming towards him; he wondered what was he was going to do to him. _

_ Another scene, and he was sitting in a teleportation pad, dressed in the clothes he was currently wearing, and still completely knocked out. "Will it work?" he heard the sound of the man from the white room's voice._

_ "If we maintain the simulated world until Namine finishes chaining Sora's memories." DiZ said to the man. _

_ "What will happen to Roxas?" the man asked._

_ "He holds half of Sora's power within him." He began to turn around. "In the end he'll have to give it back." He walked away. Roxas thought that all of this was just a bad dream and that he was going to wake up any minute. Everything DiZ had been telling him was true; but he still didn't want to believe it. "Until then he'll need another personality to throw off his pursuers." DiZ looked up at the monitors. _

_ "Poor thing," the man looked down at Roxas. _

_ DiZ sat down at the computer mainframe. He began pushing a bunch of buttons. "It's the fate of a Nobody." Then a beam of light shone above the teleportation pad and Roxas was gone. _

When the vision was over Roxas looked at the computer. Nira heard Roxas grunt and turned from the monitor she was looking at. Something was troubling her friend and she feared he might do something drastic; all of the sudden Roxas summoned his Keyblade. He started attacking the monitors, sparks and parts were scattering all around the room.

"Roxas!" Nira called her friend's name running to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder but he pushed her off causing her to slide across the floor. He kept on destroying the computer. When he finished her caught his breath and looked around to see what he had done. He then noticed Nira lying on the ground; there was a large bruise on her arm.

"Nira," he went to her side, kneeling down to help her off the floor. "I'm so sorry."

Nira looked at Roxas and rubbed where he had pushed her. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She fully stood up. "I understand why you're upset. Everything's just so overwhelming."

Another door opened at the end of the room. They looked at each other and then walked through the door to the next room. When they were in the room a bunch of lower Nobodies attacked them. It took a while but they managed to get rid of them. As they caught their breaths they heard someone laughing at them. "Simply amazing, Roxas." The man turned to both of them, noticing Nira. "Oh, I see you brought a little friend with you." He smiled. This man was wearing the same cloak as the mystery man. He had spiky red hair with black streaks and his eyes were a piercing anti-freeze green. He looked really familiar to Nira; well at least his eyes did.

"Axel," Roxas said his name.

Axel looked astonished. "You really do remember this time." In an instant he was extremely angry. "I'M SO FLATTERED!" Nira watched as two chakrams appeared in the man's hands. Flames shot out of the floor encircling Roxas and Nira. The heat was intense. "But you're too late." Axel exclaimed.

Nira summoned her Keyblade and was ready to fight off this man. She knew after this she would finally find out where her brother was and have him back in her life. Something was different though when Roxas summoned his Keyblades, instead of one this time; he had two. Nira recognized them as Oathkeeper and Oblivion; they were two Keyblades that Sora had inherited on their last adventure. That was when Nira was completely convinced that Roxas was connected to Sora somehow because Sora was the only person who could wield Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

"Two," Nira and Axel said at the same time.

The battle started and the flames around the three people intensified. It felt like they were on the sun; Axel would then turn the floor into magma with shots of fire coming from the ground. Roxas and Nira jumped out of the way. Getting behind Axel, Nira managed to get a few hits with her Keyblade. Roxas did the same thing but Axel kept on attacking him. That's when Nira realized the only way to get out of this was…

"Roxas, we need to attack him at the same time." She called to him.

Roxas nodded taking Nira's hand in his. With the combined strength of the Kingdom Key, Oblivion and Oathkeeper they sent Axel soaring through the flames and outside of the circle. The fight was over. Even though it was over Roxas and Nira never kept their guard down just in case Axel wanted to try anything. The flames dissipated and the room was beginning to come back to normal temperature. Sweat dripping down both Nira and Roxas' faces; their Keyblades disappeared.

Another vision entered Roxas' mind when he saw Axel getting up from the ground.

_He and Axel were standing in the street. "You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you." Axel warned. _

_ Roxas just stood there not looking at him. "No one would miss me." He continued to walk away with a sullen look on his face. _

_ Once Roxas was out of sight, Axel frowned. "That's not true…I would…" _

When Roxas came back to the present he stood there in silence for a moment. He looked at Nira who was silent as well. "Axel," he said the Nobody's name.

Axel looked up at Roxas and smiled. "Let's meet again, in the next life."

"Yeah, I'll be waiting." Roxas replied.

Axel then looked at Nira, scanning her face. "It was nice meeting and battling a beautiful girl. Maybe we'll meet again as well."

"Yeah," Nira replied, hesitantly.

Axel began to fade; he turned his attention to Roxas again, laughing. "Yeah, Roxas at least you have a next life." He then disappeared.

When Axel was gone Nira and Roxas looked around the room and saw a small portal in the corner. They walked over to it but it wouldn't allow them in; the power of the darkness was too strong. Nira could sense it. They saw another door on the other side of the room. Nira's heart jumped up and down in her chest; she could feel her brother's presence.

Nira turned to Roxas, concerned. "Are you ready?" She offered him her hand. They knew they needed to do this together.

Roxas nodded and they walked into the next room. All along the walls there were different pods; they seemed like they were big enough to hold a person. As they got closer to the end of the hallway and turned the corner, something caught their eye. Nira smiled when she looked closer at the people in the pods.

"Donald, Goofy," Both of them exclaimed.

Nira turned to Roxas, confused. "Wait, how do you know them?"

"They were in my dreams. How do you know them?" He replied.

"They're my friends."

Roxas then felt like there were a ton of memories rushing back to him. He looked at Nira with a different light, a glimmer of recognition this time in his eyes. "You're his sister, aren't you?"

She was even more confused now. "Whose sister?"

"Sora's…"

Hearing Roxas say Sora's name made her fully realize what everything DiZ had been saying about Roxas was true. Roxas was really half of Sora's being. He was Sora's Nobody. "Now everything makes sense and that's why I came here and met you. My brother is here somewhere and you were meant to help me find him." She touched Roxas' arm when she saw the worry and sadness in his eyes at her statement.

They walked to the end of the hall where there was another set of doors. Roxas and Nira looked at each other, all the while trying to stop from crying. But neither of them could help it. "Well it was nice to meet you, Nira." Roxas held out his hand and waited for her to take it. But instead she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close.

"This isn't goodbye, Roxas. We will see each other again. Don't worry." She felt him wrap his arms around her. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Roxas replied.

When they let go of each other Nira watched as the doors opened. Roxas took one last look at her before entering the room. When the doors closed Nira waited outside in the hallway. She reeled over how much her life had changed in the past couple hours; how she hadn't found her brother right off but she did meet 'half' of him, a charming young man named Roxas. As she was wrapped in her thoughts she heard someone say her name. "Hello, Nira." She looked and saw DiZ standing in front of her; she armed herself with her Keyblade.

DiZ stepped back a bit. "Don't worry, Nira. I am not a foe remember, I am a friend." He regained his composure and Nira retreated her Keyblade. "I want you know when your brother wakes up; you cannot tell him about the events that have happened over the past couple hours. You can't even tell him about Roxas. He will have no memory of what happened to him and that's why I didn't have Namine take away your memories of Sora. It was so you could guide him through this journey. Do you understand why I am telling you?" he asked.

She nodded.

DiZ smiled. "Good, we shall be seeing each other soon then." In an instant he was gone.

Almost instantly after DiZ disappeared, the two pods at the end of the hallway opened revealing the newly awakened Donald and Goofy. They looked around the room, wondering where they were. But when they saw Nira; smiles appeared on their faces. "Nira!" They yelled her name running towards her. They wrapped their arms around Nira sending her to the floor; she hugged them back happily.

"Donald, Goofy," Nira greeted her friends. She was so happy that she had found them and they were okay.

"Nira, where are we?" Goofy asked looking around the hallway.

"I'd like to know what myself." She replied.

She then looked at the door with a look of despair on her face; she could no longer feel Roxas' presence anymore and she knew it was time for her to go into the last room and be reunited with her brother. "I think we should go in." Nira said as she turned to her friends.

They nodded.

When they door opened the three of them entered the room cautiously. Inside there was a huge pod and Nira knew that her brother was inside of it.

Slowly, the pod started to open, revealing Sora floating in midair. He had changed a lot in the year he had been gone. He certainly was taller and his hair was even wilder then before. But it was definitely Sora, no doubt about that. When he opened his eyes and connected with Nira he smiled brightly. "Nira!" He exclaimed jumping out of the pod into her arms. "You're here." He then became confused. "Where exactly is here?"

Before Nira could reply Donald interjected. "Hey, what are we chopped liver?"

Sora turned from Nira and smiled at his two friends. "Donald! Goofy!" He hugged them both.

Then Jiminy jumped off of Sora's shoulder, giving a huge yawn. "Ah, well that certainly was a long nap."

"We were asleep?" Sora asked.

"We had to be because I don't think we'd be this drowsy."

Nira placed her arm around Sora's shoulder. "That doesn't matter right now. I'm just so happy to have you guys back, I missed you." She kissed his cheek. He blushed, embarrassed.

"How long have we been asleep?" Goofy asked. Nira knew she couldn't answer his question before DiZ made her promise that Sora would have to find out on his own.

"Let's see…we defeated Ansem…restored peace to the worlds…found Kairi…? And then we went to find Riku. I think that's right so far." Nira was shocked; Sora really didn't remember anything that had happened to him. Her heart wrenched because Nira wanted to find Riku and wondered where he was and if he was okay. But she did know he was still alive; she could just tell.

"Then what?" Donald asked, he didn't remember either.

"Nira, do you know?" Sora asked.

Nira shook her head, lying. "I just remember I was sent her and nothing else. But I'm glad I found you guys. Now we can look for Riku together."

Sora smiled. "Yeah, we can."

Goofy looked down at Jiminy and asked. "What does your journal say?"

Jiminy opened his journal and looked a little shocked. "There's only one sentence." He looked closer at it. "Thank Namine, that's all it says." Nira smiled because she knew who wrote it there. She thought of Roxas for a moment; she would miss him but she would always see glimpses of him in her brother. "Hmm…I wonder who that is?" Jiminy asked. Even Nira had no clue who that was but she had a good idea it was the girl that was speaking to Roxas when they first came to the mansion.

Nira watched as all of them shook their head. "Some journal that is." Donald said, peeved.

"Well, what do you say that we find out where we are?" Nira suggested and they all agreed.


	3. Chapter II: Twilight Town

Chapter II

Twilight Town

Sora, Nira, Donald and Goofy went back through the mansion and were back out in the forest where Nira had been a few hours ago. But it was now like the weight of the world was off her shoulders now that she had her brother and her friends back.

They walked through the forest finding a hole in a wall which led then to the center of some sort of town. Nira watched as her brother looked around acting as if he had been there before.

"Sora, is everything okay?" she asked.

Sora shot up at his sister. "No, everything's fine, Nira. I just thought…never mind." He shook his head.

They continued to walk through the town; Nira keeping her guard up just in case there were more Nobodies out there. She definitely knew that the Organization was still watching because Axel was still out there.

They came down an alleyway, stopping when they heard to sound of people's voices. They walked to where the voices were coming from and Sora began to look around like there was something he had forgot. Nira, Donald and Goofy turned to Sora. "Is something wrong?" Donald asked.

"You know. I think I've been to this town." Sora said still looking around. He felt weird as if there was a memory in the back of his mind that needed to be brought to the surface.

"What's it called?" Nira asked.

Sora thought a bit. "Hmm…I must have imagined it."

They walked into a back room off the alley where there were three teenagers about Sora and Nira's age. They seemed bored and looking for something to do. Nira laughed on the inside because one of them seemed to have fallen asleep. They looked at Sora and Nira as they entered the room.

"What do you want?" A boy with blonde hair who was sitting on a radiator asked.

"Oh nothing. We were just wondering what was back here." Nira said, kind of intimidated by the blonde haired boy.

"Now you know. This is our spot." He was getting defensive.

One of the boys walked over to Sora looking him up and down, trying to remember something about him. Sora was kind of confused about what was going on. Nira guessed that these were Roxas' friends and the boy seemed to remember him.

"What?" Sora asked.

"You're new…around here, right? I'm Pence."

The blonde boy walked to where the other boy was along with a young girl. "I'm Hayner, nice to meet you. But we have stuff to do so catch you later." He walked behind the four others.

His two other friends looked kind of shocked at Hayner's behavior just blowing them off. Then the girl with the brown hair and green eyes came up to Sora and Nira. "My name's Olette. Hey did you finish the summer homework yet? Independent studies are the worst, huh?" She laughed a little.

"Homework?" Nira and Sora said at the same time. They were really confused now. These people actually thought they lived in the town, when in truth the four had no clue where they were. They turned to each other shaking their heads.

"Hey, what are your names?" Pence asked.

"Oh, sorry. We're Sora, Donald, Goofy and Nira." Goofy said.

"Hello." Nira said, smiling.

"Hey."

Pence and Olette looked at each other then back at the four friends. "Sora, Nira, Donald and Goofy, we just met someone who was looking for you."

"He sure seemed in a hurry." Pence added. "He had a black cloak so I couldn't see his face, but he had these big round ears."

The group looked at each other as Pence's description hit their brains.

"The King!" Donald quacked.

"Where'd you see him?" Sora asked Pence and Olette.

"At the station, it's at the top of the hill." Olette pointed upwards. "It's where the clock tower is."

"The station! Thanks!" Nira exclaimed.

"No problem. Well, we better get back to that assignment."

"Later." Pence said as he followed Olette out of the spot.

After they were gone Sora and Nira turned to Donald and Goofy. They were happy that the King was there looking for them and that he was alright. Nira was extremely happy because if the King had made his way out of the Realm of Darkness, then there was a chance that Riku had gotten out also. He was somewhere out there.

"Oh boy! The King's trying to find us!" Donald was jumping up and down; he was really happy to discover his ruler was alright.

"Yeah, but let's get to the station if we want to find him." Nira said, and they all nodded.

They went out of the spot and ran down the hill. They came to what looked like an arena; there were three other teens talking there. One spotted the group and asked. "Hey where did you guys come from?" he was extremely rude. Nira laughed a little inside because he was the only boy that Nira had seen who wore a shirt with his mid-drift showing.

"Uhh…" Sora tried to look for the right words to explain where they came from.

"You here to pick a fight or something?" The boy asked.

"Fight? We're not here to fight." Nira replied.

"Yeah! You big Palooka!" Donald yelled; what the boy said really made him mad. Nira placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

Nira walked up to the boy, menacingly. "You wanna fight, let's go."

"I'm not going to fight a girl." He backed off a bit.

Nira scoffed. "Okay, Sora, Donald, Goofy let's just go." The group walked away making their way to the station at the top of the hill.

Nira looked out at the view and it was amazing. The whole city seemed to be basked in sunlight; it reminded Nira of when she would sit on the islet where her brother and friends used to go, they would sit there and watch the sun go down over the ocean.

She turned away from the view and began looking around the area for the King, but there was nothing.

Then the worst happened when a bunch of lower Nobodies came up from the ground; pretty soon they were all surrounded.

Sora saw the symbol on the Nobodies' heads, wondering where he had seen it before.

Sora and Nira summoned their Keyblades; as they fought off the Nobodies it was just like when Nira had first come there fighting off the creatures but just having them keep coming. Nira was hit by one of them and slammed into the back wall. Pain radiated through her body as she took out one of the potions she had managed to find in the mansion; it brought her back to fighting form. They were completely exhausted, collapsing in the middle of the area with the Nobodies surrounding them. All four of them wondered where they were coming from and who was controlling them. Nobodies were dancing around them, in almost a taunting manner, just waiting for their moment to attack one last time.

Right before another was going to attack Sora; he put up his Keyblade but the creature was already destroyed by someone in a black cloak. When they were gone the group got a better look and Sora dropped his Keyblade. They noticed in the person's hand was a golden Keyblade; their eyes widened and Donald and Goofy pushed Sora to the ground.

"You're Majesty!" they both exclaimed.

Mickey turned around a bit but not enough to reveal his face. "Ssh…" he hushed them. "You four have to board the train and leave town! The train knows the way." He got closer to them and handed Sora what looked like a pouch. "Here," Sora took the pouch in his hand.

Sora looked at the pouch for a moment and then Donald saw the King running away. "You're Majesty?" he asked. Nira turned her gaze toward the fleeing King. She watched as Donald tried to run after him but he was too far away."

"The King…was that really him?" Nira asked.

"I coulda been…Yep, I know it was!" Goofy replied.

Donald smiled. "Now we know he's okay!" He seemed so happy to find out the monarch was alright.

"The King was trapped in the Realm of Darkness, right?"

"Uh. Huh." Goofy said, nodding his head.

"But we just saw him?" Sora asked, scratching his head.

"So that means if the King is here…then that means that Riku is here too." A smile went across Nira's face as she thought about the one she loved; touching the bracelet he had given her the night before the Destiny Islands had been consumed by Darkness. He had told her it was to act like the Paopu fruit and keep them together even if they were far apart. That had also been the night when Riku and Nira had shared their first kiss. She missed him so much; it pained her to even think of him.

"He's gotta be!" Sora stated with a smile on his face. He was also happy that his best friend was okay and had made it out of the Darkness. He was out of danger, he hoped. "Well, Nira and I are going to look for Riku and bring him home. We can go back to the islands together. Kairi is back waiting for us." Nira walked to her brother's side.

"What are you two going to do?" Nira asked.

Donald and Goofy looked a little embarrassed to be asked that question. "Do you really have to ask?" Goofy asked. Nira knew that was going to be an easy question and it was also kind of unneeded.

Nira and Sora laughed at their reactions though. Donald scolded them. "Hey! What's so funny?"

"Your faces." Sora replied and he continued laughing.

Donald and Goofy looked at each other and began laughing too. Then the whole group broke into laughter.

Sora stopped laughed and looked at his sister and friends. "So what do you say guys?" A smile lined his face; it was the same for Nira. "Let's stick together for one more journey." They both nodded; Sora looked to his sister. "Are you in, sis?" he asked.

Nira punched her brother's arm and said. "Do you have to ask, Sora? I haven't come this far just to go home alone. Anywhere you three go, I'm going too." She hugged him. "I'm not going to lose you again." She whispered to him.

Sora smiled and broke out of his sister's embrace. "Now, where are we going again?" he asked putting his hands behind his head.

"We hafta board the train!" Goofy reminded them.

"Oh yeah," Sora remembered then he motioned for them to go into the station.

When they were inside someone called after them from behind. "Wait up," They all turned seeing Hayner, Pence and Olette running towards them.

Hey Sora, Nira…"

"What?" Sora asked.

"Nothing, but we just came to see you off. It just seemed like something we have to do."

The siblings smiled. "Oh well…thank you." Nira replied to the three friends.

They heard the sound of a bell ringing, they trains were leaving soon and they needed to know which one to get on. "You better get your tickets." Olette mentioned.

Sora walked up to the ticket counter, taking out the pouch that King Mickey had given him. Donald noticed Olette looking at it. "What is it?" he asked her.

Before answering Olette took out a pouch that looked exactly like the one in Sora's hand. "They're the same." Nira mentioned looking back and forth between the two. Olette nodded.

Sora looked down at the pouch, then back to the ticket woman. "May we have three train tickets?" She handed them to him and he turned to face the stairs, seeing the train they were supposed to go on.

But right before he got to it; he stopped. Nira went to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

Sora looked to her. "I just have a feeling we won't see this town again…"

Donald looked at his friend and asked. "Why not?" He seemed like he wanted to come back to this town again and Nira sort of wanted to also. The people were nice and she thought that they could be good friends.

"You're thinking too much." Goofy said to Sora.

Sora smiled and then laughed it off. "Yeah. You're right." But there was still some doubt in his voice. He didn't just get rid of the thought that they were never coming back to this town, just buried it inside. Nira even held doubt in her heart that soon this town would be gone.

They continued to walk to the purple and golden train waiting for them. "Let's go!" Sora said to the others. He turned to Hayner, Pence and Olette. "Bye."

Nira was already on the train, watching what was going on from the window.

"Are you sure we haven't met before, Sora?" Hayner asked.

Sora thought for a moment, trying to recall a memory. But then shook his head again. "Positive. Why do you ask?"

Hayner shook his head too. "I don't know."

Sora smiled, a tear rolling down his face. Nira watched as he touched his face, that was when she knew these were Roxas' friends and that somewhere deep down inside of Sora, Roxas was crying about the fact that he might never see them again. She felt so sorry that she couldn't tell her brother about anything that had happened before he had woken up, because she didn't know what DiZ would do to her if he found out, or how Sora would react if she told him.

"I'll see you soon, guys." Sora said, waving at them before getting on the train.

Nira got off her seat when her brother got on the train. She ran into his arms, holding him close. "Nira, what are you doing?" he asked, shocked.

"Can't a sister hug her brother once in a while?" she asked.

They broke away once the train started to move, sitting beside each other waiting for their new journey to begin; one that would hopefully help them find their friend and bring him home.


	4. Chapter III: The Mysterious Tower

Chapter III

The Mysterious Tower and the Old Master

As the train was going by the town, Nira saw all the buildings passing by, there was a feeling in the pit of her stomach, like she was leaving something behind and letting someone down at the same time.

She turned away from the window to see that Sora was looking down at the money pouch. He opened it and a blue orb fell out; it looked like it was made of pure crystal. "You know," he began to say. "I'm sad." Looking down at the orb.

Nira looked at her brother and replied. "We'll be back."

"Yeah. And we can visit Hayner and those guys again." Goofy added to the conversation.

Sora nodded.

All of the sudden there was a bright light and the town disappeared completely revealing a landscape that made it look like they were in space. Stars of all different colors swirled through the dark sky. It looked beautiful. Nira looked out the window and noticed that the train tracks seemed to be glowing a bright green color. She knew that they were traveling into a different world, far behind the town and their new friends.

The train went through a portal and the scenery changed once more from being in space to where they were floating above trees. The train stopped in front of a set of towers that looked like they reached to the top of the skyline.

The friends got off of the train and looked at the towers once again. They then turned back to the train just to see it disappear in a beam of light. Sora was a little uneasy when he saw their ride disappear. "There goes our ride…" He laughed, nervously.

Making their way from where they got off the train to the doors of the towers. When they got there someone was looking inside. "What's going on?" Donald asked.

The person laughed a bit then replied. "I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower is as big and tough as they say. Word is, he's a really powerful sorcerer. Which would make him a perfect bodyguard for me. See, it doesn't matter how tough he is—once he's a Heartless, he'll do as I say!"

"A Heartless?" If the Heartless were around, that meant trouble.

"That's right. There these things that come out of the darkness in folk's hearts. Why, with all those Heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gunna conquer everything! And since I got a debt to pay, I'm going around a bunch of worlds and buildin' an army of Heartless, special for her!"

They were all shocked by what this person was saying and the whole time when Maleficent and the Heartless were involved meant major trouble for Nira, Sora and all the others who occupied the different worlds. This man was up to no good.

"Why am I talkin' to you pipsqueaks anyway?" he waved his hand in dismissal. "Go, scram. I'm behind schedule as it is."

"You oughta find something nicer to do." Donald stated.

"Says who?" the person turned around and was obviously shocked when he saw who he had been talking to for the entire time. "Wha…AAH! It's you!"

"Pete?" Donald and Goofy questioned.

"What are you two nimrods doin' here?" Pete asked them, banging his fists.

"What are YOU doing here?" Donald asked.

Nira turned to Goofy and asked. "You know him?" She wondered who he was because she didn't remember meeting him on their last journey but she definitely remembered Maleficent; she had nearly been killed by that woman. If you could all her a woman; she was more like a demon.

"We sure do! Pete's been causin' trouble for ages! His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped." Goofy scratched his chin thinking about the possibilities.

Peter started laughing maniacally at the four of them. "You wanna know how, eh? Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how. And now your world—no, no, no all the worlds—are gonna belong to yours truly. 'Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em!"

Sora had a smile on his face. "Maleficent, huh?" Nira remembered that they had defeated Maleficent over a year ago causing them all to start laughing because there was no way she could help Pete if she was dead.

Pete got angry. "What are you laughing at?" he questioned. "Why Maleficent's power is go great…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Sora interjected. "She's toast."

"Sorry, but Maleficent can't help ya now." Goofy added.

"Whaddya mean?" Pete asked them, he looked a bit shocked. He then realized who else he was talking to. "You two!" He pointed to Nira and Sora. "You're the ones that did it!" he accused.

"Well…" Nira said, slyly. She looked at her brother then back at Pete. "My brother and I might have had something to do with it." She glared at him, playfully.

They watched as Pete got even angrier as he called for his Heartless.

"Heartless Squad! Round up!"

The creatures rose up from the ground and surrounded them. Sora and Nira hadn't seen these creatures in a long time. They kind of missed these fights, it was better than fighting off Nobodies, and much easier. At least they were familiar as well.

Thankfully, they were just Shadow Heartless, the lowest and weakest type. It felt good getting rid of them again and Nira felt like she was useful. But she wished she had a challenged, Shadow Heartless weren't said challenge.

Once they were gone the group focused their attention back on Pete, who looked even more pissed at how easy his minions had gone down.

"Just wait!" he yelled at the shaking his fist. "Nobody, and I mean nobody messes with the mighty Pete."

Sora looked at him, trying not to laugh and asked. "So 'mighty' Pete, who lives in this tower?" All of the group wanted to know. But they kind of knew that it had to be someone important or the King wouldn't have sent them there.

"You don't know, eh? Well, it's old Yen Sid." Pete looked at the tower. "Course he's probably a Heartless by now."

Donald and Goofy looked like their eyes were going to fall out of their heads. "Master Yen Sid lives here?!" Donald exclaimed, his eyes shining brightly; it was a kind of shine you saw when a child got their favorite toy on their birthday. _This Yen Sid, must be really important._ Nira thought. Donald then ran up the stairs of the tower, opening the doors and going inside.

"Yen Sid is the King's teacher." Goofy added once Donald was out of sight.

"If he's the King's teacher then he must be really powerful." Sora said looking at Goofy.

They all ran into the tower after Donald; they didn't want him getting himself into any trouble but they knew their chances were slim. Pete was left with a confused look on his face and he started stomping the ground. Nira laughed a bit at him before closing the door of the tower. She knew this man wasn't much of a threat to her and her friends. Or to anyone else for that matter.

When they entered the tower they noticed that it was small but at the top of a large staircase was a portal that must have led to the rest of the tower. There were Heartless on every level of the tower that the group entered but when they were at the last set of stairs it was eerily silent, like the Heartless weren't even permitted in that area.

Donald stamped his foot on the ground and looked at his three friends. "HEARTLESS! HEARTLESS! HEARTLESS!" he quacked. "Things haven't changed one bit!"

"Well, it's a good thing we're on the job then." Goofy chuckled.

"So the worlds aren't at peace after all?" Sora asked. He looked to his sister and she was wondering the same thing. She thought the worlds had gone back to normal but she must have guessed when Sora didn't come back with her on their last adventure then something must be wrong.

Nira could sense there was a presence of magic behind the door they stood in front of. Yen Sid had to be behind that door and he wasn't a Heartless because it was light magic she sensed; not dark.

When they entered the room, sitting at a large wooden desk was an elderly man with a long silver beard. He was completely dressed in blue robes and had a matching cap with gold stars and moons on it. This man was Yen Sid; Nira knew it.

When the group walked to the desk Donald and Goofy bowed to the master, Nira curtsied politely. Sora wondering what was going on didn't know what to do.

"Master Yen Sid, it's an honor!" Donald said as he stayed in the bowing position.

Sora smiled and said. "Hey there!" But Donald and Goofy quickly chastised him for being so improper.

"Sora, show some respect." Donald scrutinized.

Master Yen Sid motioned for them not to snap at Sora and then placed his hands on his lap. Nira was now standing next to her brother, smiling. "So you're Sora." Yen Sid looked Sora up and down. Then turned to the other young Keyblade Master. "And you must be Nira, the other Keyblade wielder?" he smiled and Nira smiled back.

"Yes sir, I am." She replied.

Yen Sid bowed his head to the girl; he saw that there were very few similarities between the siblings. She seemed very polite while he brother was clueless. He then turned to the rest of the group and asked. "Now then, have you seen the King yet?" His voice was deep and full of wisdom, like his knowledge had been passed down through the ages. Nira hoped she would be able to come back and learn from this master, and gain some new knowledge of the magic that flowed through her veins.

"Yes we did, Master, but we didn't get to talk to him." Goofy answered.

"Yes…the King has been quite busy as of late. Therefore, it seems that the task of instructing you has fallen upon my shoulders. You have a perilous journey ahead of you and you must be well prepared."

"You mean…we have to go on another quest?" Sora asked.

Nira spoke up. "We were looking forward to finding our friend Riku, so we could go back home."

"Yes, I know. However, everything in you and your brother's journey, Nira, is connected. Whether you will find your way home…whether you two will return alone, or with your friend…and whether, the islands will still be there. And the key that connects all of those circumstances, is the both of you." Yen Sid said looking the teenagers in the eyes.

Sora and Nira looked at each other. "We're both…the keys?" They asked at the same time.

They reached out their hands summoning their Keyblades to them.

"Chosen wielders of the Keyblade. You both are the keys that will open the door to the light."

Sora and Nira nodded to the master. Then Yen Sid turned his attention to Donald and Goofy, they stiffened and bowed once more. He then used magic to make a book appear on his desk. It was an old book with a moon-shaped symbol on the front and the title was written in a language that neither of them could read.

Yen Sid made the book float in midair. "This book contains valuable knowledge you will need on your journey." He moved the book around to face the siblings. "There are some passages that will give you answers, Nira. Study it carefully." He warned them both. Nira looked puzzled at him. _Did he know something that she didn't? _The book opened; Sora and Nira looked at the writing and drawings on the pages.

"Once you have both finished, we will speak of the enemies that you will surely confront."

The siblings started at the beginning of the book.

_The Beginning_

_Each journey gives rise to chance encounters, and each counter brings forth a farewell. _

_When a farewell leads to a journey, the worlds open their hearts. _

_Those chosen by the light, or ensnared by darkness. Friend who share the same bonds, though their paths may differ. _

_When you doubt the path trod thus far, when the hand you held is lost to you, gaze anew at the Heart that once was…_

_For all the answers are within._

Sora and Nira contemplated about the first part of the book and Nira started to remember something which seemed to be very familiar. When the book mentioned that there was once a hand lost to them; she thought it meant Riku was lost to her, but in fact now she thought it might have been someone else. They moved onto reading the next part of the book.

_Interlude_

_A long dream._

_A sad farewell, hanging in the air in that 'world between'. _

_What is reality? What is illusion? The path chosen by the young children leads to their memories._

_When caught in the stream of the days and nights gaze anew at your steps._

_For there all confusion will end._

Nira thought this might give her some clue to where she was born and what world she came from. Also the reason why she and Sora were both chosen for this journey; when Sora seemed like the more powerful of the two. They then moved to the last part of the book which was labeled "The Future Story".

_The Future Story_

_Will the day come when this battle, born of confusion, will end?_

_It is different things to different people. _

_Can the reality be that which is hidden?_

_The reason is mere existence. Still, memories can be believed._

_Be not afraid. Entrust both your bodies to the soothing waves of your memories. By and by, your fleet resting will be over…_

_And everything will begin._

After the book was done, Sora and Nira still had a bunch more questions about what was going on and decided to talk to Yen Sid further about what was going to be ahead in their adventure. They walked up to him and he turned to meet their gaze. "The book contains important knowledge for the both of you. Be sure to read it." He looked back and forth between the two siblings. "Do you have any questions?"

"Yes we do," Nira replied.

They then walked to the front of the desk with Donald and Goofy. Sora was the first one to speak. "But wait a sec—how come the Heartless are still running around?"

"Your past endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless for the great Darkness; make no mistake about that. However, the Heartless are darkness made real—and darkness lingers within every heart. The Heartless are fewer, but while Darkness exists in a single heart; it will be difficult to eliminate them." The groups faces sunk at the statement; they didn't wanted to deal with them again especially if they were harder to beat.

Goofy spoke up. "Gwarsh, that must mean…if everybody's heart was full of Light; the Heartless'd go away!" Smiles came across Donald and Sora's faces but not Nira's because she knew it wasn't possible; it couldn't happen.

Yen Sid nodded at Goofy. "Now it is time to speak of the enemies that you'll encounter." He cast a spell and a hologram of Donald appeared to the left of the group.

Donald quacked at the sight. Then there was a beam of light and the hologram turned to that of as Shadow Heartless. It looked like it was stalking its prey. But they knew it was a projection so it couldn't hurt them. Yen Sid motioned to Donald. "If one, such as you Donald, yields to the Darkness in their heart, they too will become a Heartless. But you know this."

They all nodded and Donald looked sad that Yen Sid was using him as a demonstration. "The Heartless are always lurking and ever seeking to capture new hearts. Never let your guard down!" He was serious because they all knew that if given the chance any of them could be turned into a Heartless. "Now then…" Yen Sid summoned another projection, this one was of one of the lesser Nobodies they had encountered in Twilight Town. Nira was scared of these beings more than the Heartless just because of their resistance as well as being very agile in their attacks.

"At times, if someone with a strong heart—be they good or evil—becomes a Heartless, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own." The projection of the Heartless disappeared. "An empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away…A spirit that goes on even as its body fades from existence—for you see, Nobodies don't truly exist at all." Nira remembered what the man had said back at the mansion about Roxas not truly existing. But she believed the young woman that Roxas had been talking to about some Nobodies being half of a person; if she wasn't bound by the promise DiZ had made her agree to; she would have interjected with some information that they do truly exist. She had met one.

"Nobodies may seem to have feelings, but this is a ruse—they only pretend to have hearts. You must not be deceived!" He emphasized the last statement to get it inside of the young one's heads.

Sora thought for a moment. "Nobodies…they don't exist…" He seemed saddened by this and Nira could see some of Roxas shine through because that had been Roxas' reaction when he had discovered who he truly was. DiZ had been right. Sora was learning over time about what had happened while he was asleep. Nira remained silent.

Then three more projections of Nobodies appeared near the group. "Now then…the being you see before you is known as a Dusk. They are the most common form of Nobodies. But there are others…some larger, with frightening and unique powers. Be vigil!" The group nodded in understanding. "On your journey you will encounter an alarming number of Dusks. They will attempt to do you harm."

The Dusk projections disappeared and Yen Sid continued to speak. "Still, they were nothing but empty shells—destined to return to Darkness. But…" He motioned his hand once more and other projection appeared. This time they looked like people who were all wearing black cloaks just like the man at the mansion Nira and Roxas had seen as well as Axel. Still, Nira thought that she must have known Axel's human self at some point in her life, maybe this new journey would answer that question.

Nira could see that her friends and brother felt uneasy around the new projections, backing away from them. Nira stayed still looked at the images before her.

"The beings you see before you now are different. These powerful Nobodies have formed a group called Organization XIII. It commands the lesser Nobodies."

Sora looked at the projections, curiously. "Organization XIII…" He might have met them during the time he was away but Nira wasn't for sure. He turned to Donald, who shook his head, he then turned to Goofy, nothing. He lastly, turned to Nira and she shook her head as well; she hated lying to her brother but she really didn't know a lot about the group herself.

"While the Heartless act on instinct, Nobodies function in a high manner. They think and plan. And it seems they're working towards a goal. What that goal is, we don't know. The King sensed danger and journeyed forth to fight it. He found the Dark Realm's Keyblade, and with it, closed the door. Now he's travelling from world to world, fighting the Heartless as he seeks answers to the riddle of the Nobodies and Organization XIII."

The projections vanished.

Nira looked to her friends and suggested. "I guess we should first find the King."

"But where could he be?" Donald asked.

"Well we won't know 'til we look." Goofy added.

"You're right," Sora said. "And the King must know where Riku is, cause the two of them were together in the Realm of Darkness when we closed the door. You know, after defeating Ansem."

Yen Sid motioned to a door. "So, before you go, you will need some more suitable travelling clothes." Sora looked down at his outfit. "Those look a bit too small for you, Sora." He looked back at the door. "Through the door you will find three good fairies. If you ask they will create appropriate garments for you."

"He's right Sora, you have grown." Nira examined her brother. He looked different from the last time she had seen him; more mature.

"Uh…I guess." Sora said laughing. He was sort of embarrassed.

When they entered the room, they saw three women gathered around each other. They all looked the same age and wearing similar dresses but the color of each were different. One was wearing red, one green and one blue.

"Me, Nira, you guys, Riku and the King. I don't care what this Organization is planning. With the six of us, there's nothing to worry about, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Nira replied.

That was when the fairies looked up and noticed the four people in the room.

"Well look who's here, dears, Sora, Nira, Donald and Goofy."

"Oh, if you're looking for clothes, you've come to the right place."

One ushered Nira over to a chair, having her sit down and Donald and Goofy stood near the wall. Nira sat back and watched as the fairies looked Sora over. To see what to do about the clothing.

"I'll do the designing." The one dressed in green said happily. She then pointed her want at Sora, turning his outfit green.

"Oh, that will never do," The one in blue said. She pointed her wand, turning Sora's outfit blue.

"Now, now, dears…" the one in red pointed her wand, turning Sora's clothes red. They began to bicker with each other causing the others to begin laughing as they watched Sora's face become agitated. But he dare not say anything.

While this was going on Nira heard the sound of squawking near one of the high windows. She turned toward the sound; there on the window sat Diablo, Maleficent's raven. She shook her head for a moment thinking she was seeing things but it was still there when she opened her eyes. She turned away from the bird's glance. "Oh no," she murmured under her breath. If Maleficent was back that meant Nira was in great danger; the last time Nira had gone up against the sorceress Maleficent had wanted to take Nira's powers because she was entranced by the amount that had been flowing through her veins.

Ignoring the bird, she turned back to her brother.

He sighed. "Would you just decide?"

The fairies seemed insulted by how he snapped at them like that. But they looked at each other and nodded. "Alright, then. Together now, dears. And no more squabbling."

They pointed all their wands at once at Sora causing a bright light to radiate off of him, when it faded his clothes were completely different. It looked good on him. Nira got off her chair to inspect the outfit; she approved.

"Oh my."

"Ooh, it looks lovely."

"Yeah Sora, you look good." Nira said looking at the outfit up and down again.

"Now those aren't normal garments."

"They have very special powers."

The red fairy placed an orb in front of Sora. "Take the orb, dear." Sora lifted his hand and the orb absorbed into his body. His clothes changed and now they were red with black streaks, and this time holding two Keyblades instead of one.

"Wow." Donald exclaimed.

"Two Keyblades." Goofy remarked.

"This journey is going to be twice as difficult as your last."

"Your garments also have other powers—but you will have to discover them as your journey continues." The fairy turned to Nira summoning an orb for her to take. "This is for you, dear." Nira took it and she could feel her magic being awakened. "This will help boost your magical abilities because you haven't used them in a while."

"Thank you, mam." Nira replied, she summoned some ice magic, happy to have it back.

"Okay. Nira and I will do our bests. And thanks a lot."

"Oh, and there's something else for you, from Master Yen Sid."

Donald and Goofy looked at each other, happily, they had an idea what the gift was.

After they left the room, they found Yen Sid standing by one of the windows of the tower. He gestured for them to come near, they obeyed. They looked out the window and the Gummi Ship appeared floating near the tower. Smiles appeared on their faces.

"Hey! It's the Gummi Ship!" Donald exclaimed and Goofy jumped in the air.

Sora turned to the group. "Are you guys ready to go?" he asked.

They nodded but Yen Sid stopped them. "Now, now just a moment."

"Because of your past endeavors, the worlds have returned to their original states. That means the pathways had disappeared."

"How do we get around?"

"Do not fear. If what the King suspected is true, the worlds had prepared new pathways along which you may travel. These pathways may be utilized by unlocking special gates. How these gates are opened, I am afraid I do not know...However, your Keyblades will serve as your guides. When a beam of light radiates from the Keyblades, return to the Gummi Ship. Though the worlds may seem far apart and out of reach, they remain nonetheless connected by invisible ties. As do our hearts."

"Our hearts are connected." Nira touched the necklace she had been found wearing when she washed up on the shores of Destiny Islands; she couldn't remember who had given it to her but from that moment she had never taken it off just like the bracelet from Riku.

"That is correct." Yen Sid confirmed.

"Got it!" Sora said.

"But be warned. As you proceed…the Heartless and the Nobodies will be using their own paths; corridors of Darkness to travel from world to world. They may be trying to link these paths to the gates between the worlds."

"Hey, that's not fair!"

Yen Sid nodded. "Yes, now I am afraid that's all the information I can give you. Go forth Sora, Nira, Donald and Goofy. Everyone is waiting."

"Okay, let's get going." Sora said and everyone nodded.

"Master Yen Sid, it was an honor meeting you." Nira said as she shook the old wizard's hand.

"The honor was mine. And don't worry, Nira, your questions will be answered." Nira nodded.

They ran off to the Gummi Ship off to the next world that needed their help.


	5. Chapter IV: Hollow Bastion

Chapter III

The Mysterious Tower and the Old Master

As the train was going by the town, Nira saw all the buildings passing by, there was a feeling in the pit of her stomach, like she was leaving something behind and letting someone down at the same time.

She turned away from the window to see that Sora was looking down at the money pouch. He opened it and a blue orb fell out; it looked like it was made of pure crystal. "You know," he began to say. "I'm sad." Looking down at the orb.

Nira looked at her brother and replied. "We'll be back."

"Yeah. And we can visit Hayner and those guys again." Goofy added to the conversation.

Sora nodded.

All of the sudden there was a bright light and the town disappeared completely revealing a landscape that made it look like they were in space. Stars of all different colors swirled through the dark sky. It looked beautiful. Nira looked out the window and noticed that the train tracks seemed to be glowing a bright green color. She knew that they were traveling into a different world, far behind the town and their new friends.

The train went through a portal and the scenery changed once more from being in space to where they were floating above trees. The train stopped in front of a set of towers that looked like they reached to the top of the skyline.

The friends got off of the train and looked at the towers once again. They then turned back to the train just to see it disappear in a beam of light. Sora was a little uneasy when he saw their ride disappear. "There goes our ride…" He laughed, nervously.

Making their way from where they got off the train to the doors of the towers. When they got there someone was looking inside. "What's going on?" Donald asked.

The person laughed a bit then replied. "I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower is as big and tough as they say. Word is, he's a really powerful sorcerer. Which would make him a perfect bodyguard for me. See, it doesn't matter how tough he is—once he's a Heartless, he'll do as I say!"

"A Heartless?" If the Heartless were around, that meant trouble.

"That's right. There these things that come out of the darkness in folk's hearts. Why, with all those Heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gunna conquer everything! And since I got a debt to pay, I'm going around a bunch of worlds and buildin' an army of Heartless, special for her!"

They were all shocked by what this person was saying and the whole time when Maleficent and the Heartless were involved meant major trouble for Nira, Sora and all the others who occupied the different worlds. This man was up to no good.

"Why am I talkin' to you pipsqueaks anyway?" he waved his hand in dismissal. "Go, scram. I'm behind schedule as it is."

"You oughta find something nicer to do." Donald stated.

"Says who?" the person turned around and was obviously shocked when he saw who he had been talking to for the entire time. "Wha…AAH! It's you!"

"Pete?" Donald and Goofy questioned.

"What are you two nimrods doin' here?" Pete asked them, banging his fists.

"What are YOU doing here?" Donald asked.

Nira turned to Goofy and asked. "You know him?" She wondered who he was because she didn't remember meeting him on their last journey but she definitely remembered Maleficent; she had nearly been killed by that woman. If you could all her a woman; she was more like a demon.

"We sure do! Pete's been causin' trouble for ages! His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped." Goofy scratched his chin thinking about the possibilities.

Peter started laughing maniacally at the four of them. "You wanna know how, eh? Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how. And now your world—no, no, no all the worlds—are gonna belong to yours truly. 'Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em!"

Sora had a smile on his face. "Maleficent, huh?" Nira remembered that they had defeated Maleficent over a year ago causing them all to start laughing because there was no way she could help Pete if she was dead.

Pete got angry. "What are you laughing at?" he questioned. "Why Maleficent's power is go great…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Sora interjected. "She's toast."

"Sorry, but Maleficent can't help ya now." Goofy added.

"Whaddya mean?" Pete asked them, he looked a bit shocked. He then realized who else he was talking to. "You two!" He pointed to Nira and Sora. "You're the ones that did it!" he accused.

"Well…" Nira said, slyly. She looked at her brother then back at Pete. "My brother and I might have had something to do with it." She glared at him, playfully.

They watched as Pete got even angrier as he called for his Heartless.

"Heartless Squad! Round up!"

The creatures rose up from the ground and surrounded them. Sora and Nira hadn't seen these creatures in a long time. They kind of missed these fights, it was better than fighting off Nobodies, and much easier. At least they were familiar as well.

Thankfully, they were just Shadow Heartless, the lowest and weakest type. It felt good getting rid of them again and Nira felt like she was useful. But she wished she had a challenged, Shadow Heartless weren't said challenge.

Once they were gone the group focused their attention back on Pete, who looked even more pissed at how easy his minions had gone down.

"Just wait!" he yelled at the shaking his fist. "Nobody, and I mean nobody messes with the mighty Pete."

Sora looked at him, trying not to laugh and asked. "So 'mighty' Pete, who lives in this tower?" All of the group wanted to know. But they kind of knew that it had to be someone important or the King wouldn't have sent them there.

"You don't know, eh? Well, it's old Yen Sid." Pete looked at the tower. "Course he's probably a Heartless by now."

Donald and Goofy looked like their eyes were going to fall out of their heads. "Master Yen Sid lives here?!" Donald exclaimed, his eyes shining brightly; it was a kind of shine you saw when a child got their favorite toy on their birthday. _This Yen Sid, must be really important._ Nira thought. Donald then ran up the stairs of the tower, opening the doors and going inside.

"Yen Sid is the King's teacher." Goofy added once Donald was out of sight.

"If he's the King's teacher then he must be really powerful." Sora said looking at Goofy.

They all ran into the tower after Donald; they didn't want him getting himself into any trouble but they knew their chances were slim. Pete was left with a confused look on his face and he started stomping the ground. Nira laughed a bit at him before closing the door of the tower. She knew this man wasn't much of a threat to her and her friends. Or to anyone else for that matter.

When they entered the tower they noticed that it was small but at the top of a large staircase was a portal that must have led to the rest of the tower. There were Heartless on every level of the tower that the group entered but when they were at the last set of stairs it was eerily silent, like the Heartless weren't even permitted in that area.

Donald stamped his foot on the ground and looked at his three friends. "HEARTLESS! HEARTLESS! HEARTLESS!" he quacked. "Things haven't changed one bit!"

"Well, it's a good thing we're on the job then." Goofy chuckled.

"So the worlds aren't at peace after all?" Sora asked. He looked to his sister and she was wondering the same thing. She thought the worlds had gone back to normal but she must have guessed when Sora didn't come back with her on their last adventure then something must be wrong.

Nira could sense there was a presence of magic behind the door they stood in front of. Yen Sid had to be behind that door and he wasn't a Heartless because it was light magic she sensed; not dark.

When they entered the room, sitting at a large wooden desk was an elderly man with a long silver beard. He was completely dressed in blue robes and had a matching cap with gold stars and moons on it. This man was Yen Sid; Nira knew it.

When the group walked to the desk Donald and Goofy bowed to the master, Nira curtsied politely. Sora wondering what was going on didn't know what to do.

"Master Yen Sid, it's an honor!" Donald said as he stayed in the bowing position.

Sora smiled and said. "Hey there!" But Donald and Goofy quickly chastised him for being so improper.

"Sora, show some respect." Donald scrutinized.

Master Yen Sid motioned for them not to snap at Sora and then placed his hands on his lap. Nira was now standing next to her brother, smiling. "So you're Sora." Yen Sid looked Sora up and down. Then turned to the other young Keyblade Master. "And you must be Nira, the other Keyblade wielder?" he smiled and Nira smiled back.

"Yes sir, I am." She replied.

Yen Sid bowed his head to the girl; he saw that there were very few similarities between the siblings. She seemed very polite while he brother was clueless. He then turned to the rest of the group and asked. "Now then, have you seen the King yet?" His voice was deep and full of wisdom, like his knowledge had been passed down through the ages. Nira hoped she would be able to come back and learn from this master, and gain some new knowledge of the magic that flowed through her veins.

"Yes we did, Master, but we didn't get to talk to him." Goofy answered.

"Yes…the King has been quite busy as of late. Therefore, it seems that the task of instructing you has fallen upon my shoulders. You have a perilous journey ahead of you and you must be well prepared."

"You mean…we have to go on another quest?" Sora asked.

Nira spoke up. "We were looking forward to finding our friend Riku, so we could go back home."

"Yes, I know. However, everything in you and your brother's journey, Nira, is connected. Whether you will find your way home…whether you two will return alone, or with your friend…and whether, the islands will still be there. And the key that connects all of those circumstances, is the both of you." Yen Sid said looking the teenagers in the eyes.

Sora and Nira looked at each other. "We're both…the keys?" They asked at the same time.

They reached out their hands summoning their Keyblades to them.

"Chosen wielders of the Keyblade. You both are the keys that will open the door to the light."

Sora and Nira nodded to the master. Then Yen Sid turned his attention to Donald and Goofy, they stiffened and bowed once more. He then used magic to make a book appear on his desk. It was an old book with a moon-shaped symbol on the front and the title was written in a language that neither of them could read.

Yen Sid made the book float in midair. "This book contains valuable knowledge you will need on your journey." He moved the book around to face the siblings. "There are some passages that will give you answers, Nira. Study it carefully." He warned them both. Nira looked puzzled at him. _Did he know something that she didn't? _The book opened; Sora and Nira looked at the writing and drawings on the pages.

"Once you have both finished, we will speak of the enemies that you will surely confront."

The siblings started at the beginning of the book.

_The Beginning_

_Each journey gives rise to chance encounters, and each counter brings forth a farewell. _

_When a farewell leads to a journey, the worlds open their hearts. _

_Those chosen by the light, or ensnared by darkness. Friend who share the same bonds, though their paths may differ. _

_When you doubt the path trod thus far, when the hand you held is lost to you, gaze anew at the Heart that once was…_

_For all the answers are within._

Sora and Nira contemplated about the first part of the book and Nira started to remember something which seemed to be very familiar. When the book mentioned that there was once a hand lost to them; she thought it meant Riku was lost to her, but in fact now she thought it might have been someone else. They moved onto reading the next part of the book.

_Interlude_

_A long dream._

_A sad farewell, hanging in the air in that 'world between'. _

_What is reality? What is illusion? The path chosen by the young children leads to their memories._

_When caught in the stream of the days and nights gaze anew at your steps._

_For there all confusion will end._

Nira thought this might give her some clue to where she was born and what world she came from. Also the reason why she and Sora were both chosen for this journey; when Sora seemed like the more powerful of the two. They then moved to the last part of the book which was labeled "The Future Story".

_The Future Story_

_Will the day come when this battle, born of confusion, will end?_

_It is different things to different people. _

_Can the reality be that which is hidden?_

_The reason is mere existence. Still, memories can be believed._

_Be not afraid. Entrust both your bodies to the soothing waves of your memories. By and by, your fleet resting will be over…_

_And everything will begin._

After the book was done, Sora and Nira still had a bunch more questions about what was going on and decided to talk to Yen Sid further about what was going to be ahead in their adventure. They walked up to him and he turned to meet their gaze. "The book contains important knowledge for the both of you. Be sure to read it." He looked back and forth between the two siblings. "Do you have any questions?"

"Yes we do," Nira replied.

They then walked to the front of the desk with Donald and Goofy. Sora was the first one to speak. "But wait a sec—how come the Heartless are still running around?"

"Your past endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless for the great Darkness; make no mistake about that. However, the Heartless are darkness made real—and darkness lingers within every heart. The Heartless are fewer, but while Darkness exists in a single heart; it will be difficult to eliminate them." The groups faces sunk at the statement; they didn't wanted to deal with them again especially if they were harder to beat.

Goofy spoke up. "Gwarsh, that must mean…if everybody's heart was full of Light; the Heartless'd go away!" Smiles came across Donald and Sora's faces but not Nira's because she knew it wasn't possible; it couldn't happen.

Yen Sid nodded at Goofy. "Now it is time to speak of the enemies that you'll encounter." He cast a spell and a hologram of Donald appeared to the left of the group.

Donald quacked at the sight. Then there was a beam of light and the hologram turned to that of as Shadow Heartless. It looked like it was stalking its prey. But they knew it was a projection so it couldn't hurt them. Yen Sid motioned to Donald. "If one, such as you Donald, yields to the Darkness in their heart, they too will become a Heartless. But you know this."

They all nodded and Donald looked sad that Yen Sid was using him as a demonstration. "The Heartless are always lurking and ever seeking to capture new hearts. Never let your guard down!" He was serious because they all knew that if given the chance any of them could be turned into a Heartless. "Now then…" Yen Sid summoned another projection, this one was of one of the lesser Nobodies they had encountered in Twilight Town. Nira was scared of these beings more than the Heartless just because of their resistance as well as being very agile in their attacks.

"At times, if someone with a strong heart—be they good or evil—becomes a Heartless, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own." The projection of the Heartless disappeared. "An empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away…A spirit that goes on even as its body fades from existence—for you see, Nobodies don't truly exist at all." Nira remembered what the man had said back at the mansion about Roxas not truly existing. But she believed the young woman that Roxas had been talking to about some Nobodies being half of a person; if she wasn't bound by the promise DiZ had made her agree to; she would have interjected with some information that they do truly exist. She had met one.

"Nobodies may seem to have feelings, but this is a ruse—they only pretend to have hearts. You must not be deceived!" He emphasized the last statement to get it inside of the young one's heads.

Sora thought for a moment. "Nobodies…they don't exist…" He seemed saddened by this and Nira could see some of Roxas shine through because that had been Roxas' reaction when he had discovered who he truly was. DiZ had been right. Sora was learning over time about what had happened while he was asleep. Nira remained silent.

Then three more projections of Nobodies appeared near the group. "Now then…the being you see before you is known as a Dusk. They are the most common form of Nobodies. But there are others…some larger, with frightening and unique powers. Be vigil!" The group nodded in understanding. "On your journey you will encounter an alarming number of Dusks. They will attempt to do you harm."

The Dusk projections disappeared and Yen Sid continued to speak. "Still, they were nothing but empty shells—destined to return to Darkness. But…" He motioned his hand once more and other projection appeared. This time they looked like people who were all wearing black cloaks just like the man at the mansion Nira and Roxas had seen as well as Axel. Still, Nira thought that she must have known Axel's human self at some point in her life, maybe this new journey would answer that question.

Nira could see that her friends and brother felt uneasy around the new projections, backing away from them. Nira stayed still looked at the images before her.

"The beings you see before you now are different. These powerful Nobodies have formed a group called Organization XIII. It commands the lesser Nobodies."

Sora looked at the projections, curiously. "Organization XIII…" He might have met them during the time he was away but Nira wasn't for sure. He turned to Donald, who shook his head, he then turned to Goofy, nothing. He lastly, turned to Nira and she shook her head as well; she hated lying to her brother but she really didn't know a lot about the group herself.

"While the Heartless act on instinct, Nobodies function in a high manner. They think and plan. And it seems they're working towards a goal. What that goal is, we don't know. The King sensed danger and journeyed forth to fight it. He found the Dark Realm's Keyblade, and with it, closed the door. Now he's travelling from world to world, fighting the Heartless as he seeks answers to the riddle of the Nobodies and Organization XIII."

The projections vanished.

Nira looked to her friends and suggested. "I guess we should first find the King."

"But where could he be?" Donald asked.

"Well we won't know 'til we look." Goofy added.

"You're right," Sora said. "And the King must know where Riku is, cause the two of them were together in the Realm of Darkness when we closed the door. You know, after defeating Ansem."

Yen Sid motioned to a door. "So, before you go, you will need some more suitable travelling clothes." Sora looked down at his outfit. "Those look a bit too small for you, Sora." He looked back at the door. "Through the door you will find three good fairies. If you ask they will create appropriate garments for you."

"He's right Sora, you have grown." Nira examined her brother. He looked different from the last time she had seen him; more mature.

"Uh…I guess." Sora said laughing. He was sort of embarrassed.

When they entered the room, they saw three women gathered around each other. They all looked the same age and wearing similar dresses but the color of each were different. One was wearing red, one green and one blue.

"Me, Nira, you guys, Riku and the King. I don't care what this Organization is planning. With the six of us, there's nothing to worry about, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Nira replied.

That was when the fairies looked up and noticed the four people in the room.

"Well look who's here, dears, Sora, Nira, Donald and Goofy."

"Oh, if you're looking for clothes, you've come to the right place."

One ushered Nira over to a chair, having her sit down and Donald and Goofy stood near the wall. Nira sat back and watched as the fairies looked Sora over. To see what to do about the clothing.

"I'll do the designing." The one dressed in green said happily. She then pointed her want at Sora, turning his outfit green.

"Oh, that will never do," The one in blue said. She pointed her wand, turning Sora's outfit blue.

"Now, now, dears…" the one in red pointed her wand, turning Sora's clothes red. They began to bicker with each other causing the others to begin laughing as they watched Sora's face become agitated. But he dare not say anything.

While this was going on Nira heard the sound of squawking near one of the high windows. She turned toward the sound; there on the window sat Diablo, Maleficent's raven. She shook her head for a moment thinking she was seeing things but it was still there when she opened her eyes. She turned away from the bird's glance. "Oh no," she murmured under her breath. If Maleficent was back that meant Nira was in great danger; the last time Nira had gone up against the sorceress Maleficent had wanted to take Nira's powers because she was entranced by the amount that had been flowing through her veins.

Ignoring the bird, she turned back to her brother.

He sighed. "Would you just decide?"

The fairies seemed insulted by how he snapped at them like that. But they looked at each other and nodded. "Alright, then. Together now, dears. And no more squabbling."

They pointed all their wands at once at Sora causing a bright light to radiate off of him, when it faded his clothes were completely different. It looked good on him. Nira got off her chair to inspect the outfit; she approved.

"Oh my."

"Ooh, it looks lovely."

"Yeah Sora, you look good." Nira said looking at the outfit up and down again.

"Now those aren't normal garments."

"They have very special powers."

The red fairy placed an orb in front of Sora. "Take the orb, dear." Sora lifted his hand and the orb absorbed into his body. His clothes changed and now they were red with black streaks, and this time holding two Keyblades instead of one.

"Wow." Donald exclaimed.

"Two Keyblades." Goofy remarked.

"This journey is going to be twice as difficult as your last."

"Your garments also have other powers—but you will have to discover them as your journey continues." The fairy turned to Nira summoning an orb for her to take. "This is for you, dear." Nira took it and she could feel her magic being awakened. "This will help boost your magical abilities because you haven't used them in a while."

"Thank you, mam." Nira replied, she summoned some ice magic, happy to have it back.

"Okay. Nira and I will do our bests. And thanks a lot."

"Oh, and there's something else for you, from Master Yen Sid."

Donald and Goofy looked at each other, happily, they had an idea what the gift was.

After they left the room, they found Yen Sid standing by one of the windows of the tower. He gestured for them to come near, they obeyed. They looked out the window and the Gummi Ship appeared floating near the tower. Smiles appeared on their faces.

"Hey! It's the Gummi Ship!" Donald exclaimed and Goofy jumped in the air.

Sora turned to the group. "Are you guys ready to go?" he asked.

They nodded but Yen Sid stopped them. "Now, now just a moment."

"Because of your past endeavors, the worlds have returned to their original states. That means the pathways had disappeared."

"How do we get around?"

"Do not fear. If what the King suspected is true, the worlds had prepared new pathways along which you may travel. These pathways may be utilized by unlocking special gates. How these gates are opened, I am afraid I do not know...However, your Keyblades will serve as your guides. When a beam of light radiates from the Keyblades, return to the Gummi Ship. Though the worlds may seem far apart and out of reach, they remain nonetheless connected by invisible ties. As do our hearts."

"Our hearts are connected." Nira touched the necklace she had been found wearing when she washed up on the shores of Destiny Islands; she couldn't remember who had given it to her but from that moment she had never taken it off just like the bracelet from Riku.

"That is correct." Yen Sid confirmed.

"Got it!" Sora said.

"But be warned. As you proceed…the Heartless and the Nobodies will be using their own paths; corridors of Darkness to travel from world to world. They may be trying to link these paths to the gates between the worlds."

"Hey, that's not fair!"

Yen Sid nodded. "Yes, now I am afraid that's all the information I can give you. Go forth Sora, Nira, Donald and Goofy. Everyone is waiting."

"Okay, let's get going." Sora said and everyone nodded.

"Master Yen Sid, it was an honor meeting you." Nira said as she shook the old wizard's hand.

"The honor was mine. And don't worry, Nira, your questions will be answered." Nira nodded.

They ran off to the Gummi Ship off to the next world that needed their help.


	6. Chapter V: Land of Dragons

Chapter V

Land of Dragons

When they were all back on the Gummi Ship, out in the distance there were now two worlds available to them, but something was different. Chip ran to one of the windows, a shocked look on his face. "What happened to Twilight Town?"

Everyone looked out in the direction where Chip was looking and what he was talking about was true. Twilight Town was completely gone off the map, covered in what looked like a dark veil. "It's gone!" Dale exclaimed.

Nira's heart fell into the pit of her stomach; she wondered what had happened in order to make the town just disappear like that. Her thoughts immediately fell onto DiZ and how he talked about creating a simulated world for Roxas. He most likely just ended the simulation and the town completely disappeared.

Shaking off her fear, Nira focused with the rest of them on the next world they were going to be visiting.

After going through a barrage of attacks from weird ships in the gateway towards the world, they landed in what looked like a bamboo grove. The plants reaching far above their heads and the crisp air blowing by; it was a great relief from the environment they were just in.

They walked through the grove hoping it would lead them to a place where they could find out where they had landed. Coming up a hill, they heard someone speaking; turning around the corner they could see a shadowy figure with red eyes looking down on a young man dressed in armor, who looked fearful.

The boys turned to each other whispered. "A Heartless?" Donald suggested.

Nira looked once more at the figure and realized that the shape of the being looked familiar, and not because it might be a Heartless they encountered. She also noticed that Goofy had taken a second look as well, sensing doubt in his facial features.

"Let's get a jump on 'im." Sora said, with Donald nodding.

They moved in, with Nira and Goofy staying behind. "Gwarsh, maybe we should look before we leap." He warned them but it fell on deaf ears.

Sora and Donald sprang up on the two others, scaring them and causing the shadow to disappear. Goofy and Nira noticed that a small red lizard was replaced by it and jumped into the arms of the other person.

"Is that Mushu?" Goofy asked.

The red lizard poked his head out at the sound of his name. "That's right, I know you heard me! I'm little, lethal and legendary! Now y'all scram before I get my dragon dander up!" He called to them.

"Hey, Mushu! We missed you!" Nira called to her friend.

"Well you better HOPE I miss YOU, or else you're…" Mushu stopped ranting when he realized who he was speaking to. Taking a good look, a smile appeared on his face when he saw four friends from his past. "…Sora, Nira, Donald, Goofy!" He exclaimed, climbing down from his other friend.

"Do you know them?" The man's voice seemed very feminine.

"KNOW them? Man, we used to kick all kinds of bad guy but together! Yeah, you know, I helped these guys out of a lot of tough spots." He walked over and leaned on Sora's leg. "Cause I'm a mighty dragon! Right?" he looked up at him.

The man looked at them for a second, still wondering who they were.

Sora moved his leg, causing Mushu to tumble. "Something like that." He replied.

"And your name is?" Nira asked.

"I'm Mulan…" The man stood, but coughed making her voice become deeper. "Uh, no, I-I mean…"

"Ping!"

"Mulan Ping?" Donald questioned, suspiciously.

"Just…Ping. I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou." 'He' stood proudly.

"You know Mushu?" Nira asked.

"Mushu is one of my family's guardians." Mushu waved at them, smiling.

"We didn't know we were borrowin' somebody as important as a family guardian." Goofy said, apologetically.

"Yeah, that's right!" Mushu exclaimed, getting in their faces. He climbed back on 'Ping's' shoulder. "And that puts you four up to your eyeballs in debt to Ping here. Well, guess what, kiddies? It's payback time!"

"Mushu…" 'Ping' said uneasily.

"Ah, they don't mind, ain't that right?"

Sora scratched his chin. "Hmm…sound's fair."

"See, Ping here was just on his way to join the Imperial Army. We gotta find the other recruits over at the training camp."

"Would you join us?" 'Ping's' voice broke again. "It'll be easier to fit in, with three guys like you."

"What do you mean, 'fit in'?" Sora asked.

"You're pretending to be a boy, aren't you?" Nira asked, finally sure on her suspicions.

Sora and Donald were shocked; their eyes bulging out of their heads. "You're a…girl?" Sora asked.

Mulan clasped her hands looking a bit embarrassed. "You didn't notice?" She asked, her voice now normal.

Donald and Sora shook their heads. "Not me."

"Come on guys, it was obvious." Nira pointed out, smiling at the young woman.

Mulan looked to Mushu who was on her shoulder. "I think it's working."

Mushu rolled his eyes. "I don't know—those two would fall for anything."

"We're right here!" Sora called out.

Nira walked ahead of the group, turning around to look at them. "He's not wrong, you guys." She called to them before quickly turning around and following their two friends.

They made their way from the Bamboo Grove down the long path to the encampment. Nira felt a bit nervous to how people in this world would react because she was obviously a girl, and not trying to hide it like Mulan was. The six of them walked up to a line where soldiers were waiting for food.

Sora was pushed out of the line by a small solider dressed in red. "Bout time we got some grub."

"Hey!" Sora called back to him, peeved.

The man turned around and slugged him right in the face. Nira got aggravated, using her magic to stop the man's hand from hitting her brother once more. The man looked shocked and backed off in fear. But it wasn't long before they were all fighting while the Mulan, Goofy and Nira were trying to stop them.

"Please!" Mulan exclaimed. They all stopped and looked at her.

One of them, who was very skinny and dressed in yellow armor looked confused. "Please?"

"What a girl!" The red armored brute added.

"Just knock it off!" Nira demanded.

"Knock what off?"

Sora looked pissed. "You punched me!"

"What a shrimp!"

Mushu poked out of Mulan's armor "Who you calling a shrimp, panda lips? I'm a bona fide guardian dragon!" Mulan panicked, shoving him back into her armor.

"Let's just get back in line, okay?" she suggested.

"Who's side are you on? I just got slugged."

"Don't complain."

"Soldiers! Get back in line!" Another male's voice said, everyone immediately stood in line without fight.

A man dressed in red, walked by them. By his posture, they could tell he was of higher rank then the others. He walked down the line, landing on Nira. "What is a woman doing here, she can't fight." He commented.

Nira turned to him about to say something. "She's sorceress sent from the Gods to help you fight. I wouldn't doubt her." Sora added, Nira justified him by summoning some of her fire magic and scorching the ground.

The man looked her up and down, not replying to Sora. He turned away from them revealing some Heartless looking around. The three other men looked like they were ready to fight but quickly ran. "Cowards." Nira said under her voice.

"I hope you're ready, Ping." Sora told Mulan.

Mulan nodded, hesitantly.

They fought off the Heartless quickly, catching the attention of the Captain once more. "You four what are your names?" he asked pointing at Sora, Nira, Donald and Goofy.

"Sora."

"Nira."

"Donald."

"Goofy."

"Since you have proven yourselves fighting, and you also have the power of a sorceress behind you, all four of you are welcome in my troop."

"I am the son of Fa Zhou…" Mulan began.

"You should go home."

"B-but…That would dishonor my family!" Mulan's voice was full of panic.

"You'd rather dishonor my troops?" the Captain asked.

Nira wanted to do something to this man, he was so incredibly rude, not even giving Mulan and chance.

"If Ping trains hard and does his best; he'll get stronger in no time." Sora defended Mulan.

"Hmm…"

"Just give us an assignment." Nira suggested. "We can show you that we can all work together."

The man scratched his head. "So…you want to be tested?" He thought a bit more. "Our orders are to ambush Shan-Yu's army on their way here. They should be coming through the mountain pass."

"We'll smash them!" Donald exclaimed, making two fists.

"I doubt that you five will be the advance party. Scout out the mountain for my troops."

"That's it?" Sora placed his hands behind his head. "No problem. Right?"

"R-right?" Mulan replied looking down, worried.

They were given an assignment to scout the mountain to see if there were any enemies around that needed to be eliminated. They found a whole bunch of Heartless surrounding the mountain's opening. Dispatching of them was a hard job because they were types of Heartless that the group had never encountered before. But with some help from their new friends they were able to take them out and head back to the camp.

When they went back in front of the Captain once again, they were all nervous to know how they had done in their job. "You did well."

"I knew it." Sora scoffed.

"Captain…" Mulan spoke up, nervous.

He turned to look at her. "I suppose you've made a little progress…"

"Not a little…a lot!" Donald yelled.

Mulan shook her head. "No, you're right, Captain. Please give me one more assignment. This time I want to show you what I'm truly made of."

"I'll give you one more chance." The Captain replied. "Your mission is to secure a path to the summit so our company can pass. I've authorized you to be let through to the summit. Don't let me down!"

Heading to the summit was one of the toughest quests they had been given because of the different blockades of mountain rock that were in their way. But eventually the group was able to get to the top of the summit completely clearing it. When the troupes came up the three men that had given them problems before approached Ping. "Not half bad, Ping." The short one complimented.

"Thanks." She replied watching them walk by her. A worried looked appeared on her face. "But the Captain…"

"The Captain!"

"Ping sure did great!" Goofy complimented once the Captain stood before them.

"You bet he did!" Donald added.

"Hmm…fine, I'll let you join my troops. But I'm still not convinced you have what it takes to be a worthy soldier."

"Why not?!" Nira snapped, summoning a fire ball in her hand.

"It's alright, Nira. I'll find a way to show him what I'm made of. Just give me a chance."

Nira dissipated the fire ball.

"That's the spirit, Ping." The Captain reaffirmed.

"Sir."

When they were in the village, Mushu climbed out of Mulan's armor. "Okay, girl, here's your chance. I just saw this really shady guy. And I know it's Shan-Yu."

"Shan Yu!" The group gasped.

"The Hun leader? We need to tell the Captain." Sora stated.

"Right." Mulan agreed.

"Waaaait wait-wait-wait WAIT!" He called out to them as they began to head to where the Captain was. Everybody use their heads a second. Now what are we trying to do? We're trying to make the Captain see Mulan's—I mean Ping's talents and bring honor to her family." They all stopped and thought but Nira didn't like where this conversation was going. "So let's find out where Shan-Yu is hiding ourselves. And if we're lucky fry him up good. Though tracking the guy down should earn us our stars…Captain Musclehead will have to recognize my girl."

Mulan thought for a bit. "Okay. Let's go."

"We'll help you." Sora told her.

"Now we're cookin'. Shan-Yu is in a cave just outside the village."

Nira, reluctantly, followed her friends and sibling out of the village, finding the cave pretty quickly. They entered cautiously looking around for anything to pop out and attack them. They got to the end of the cave, noticing that there were many different altars all around. This must be the place where the villagers worship their gods. But there was no sign of Shan-Yu.

"Dead end."

"There's nobody here…" Donald said, looking around.

"You're crazy, check again." Mushu fired back.

"Oh well…" Donald turned around to leave.

"Wait for me, Donald!" Goofy called after him.

Nira was going to follow but something felt uneasy about this place. Not two seconds after Donald and Goofy were on their way out the whole cave began to shake. The three others watched as a magical barrier appeared, blocking off Donald and Goofy. Heartless appeared everywhere causing the group to fight once more against the creatures.

The battle lasted what felt like forever before they were finally all gone and the barrier disappeared.

Sora turned to Mulan. "Nice fighting! You were amazing!"

"You okay?" Goofy asked them.

"Yeah, thanks to Ping." Sora replied.

"C'mon time to report to the Captain!" Mushu sounded urgent.

"But Shan-Yu wasn't even here." Mulan replied.

"Who cares, that Hun is old news. We're gonna tell the Captain about the thousands of Heartless and how we stormed in and how Ping took out almost every one of them." Mushu replied back, even more enthusiastic than before.

The group went out of the cave, their hearts sinking when they saw what had happened to the village while they were gone. It was completely destroyed, almost like a ghost town, charred pieces of homes scattered around. It had been a distraction, the fight with the Heartless in the cave.

Mulan walked ahead of them looking around to see if there were any troops still there. She turned her head to see the Captain trying to get up, grasping his side.

"Captain!" She exclaimed, running to him.

The group ran over to him. "Don't overdo it, Captain!" Nira told him walking over to see how bad the wound was.

"It's just a scratch." He tried to move, but pain ran through his body.

Nira summoned some of her healing magic to help the wound as much as she could. "Captain, the enemy, where did they go?" Mulan asked him.

"They went toward the summit…"

"We'll stop them!" Mulan exclaimed.

Goofy scratched his head. "This is kinda our fault!" He said, guiltily.

"Right."

Mushu walked around with his head hanging. "You mean MY fault!"

"Uh-uh," Donald said.

Nira finished healing the Captain and looked to Mushu. "It was the Heartless and Shan-Yu that did this." She turned to the Captain. "Captain, if you can find the villagers, we'll handle Shan-Yu." She suggested.

The Captain nodded, while he helped him up from the ground.

The rest of the group nodded as well, turning to look at the mountain. "Let's go." Sora said.

They went up the mountain just taking down all the Heartless they could. They were at the top of the summit and looked up to one of the ridges. Standing there, with a smug look on his face, was Shan-Yu. Lines of Heartless appeared on either side of him looking around frantically for fresh hearts to take over. The five prepared for the onslaught as they came rushing down in hoards.

All of them defeating hundreds, maybe thousands of Heartless. When the first hoard was gone Shan-Yu followed with the rest of them. Before anything could be done though Yao, Ling and Chen-Po appeared with what looked like fireworks cannons. "We'll handle this." Yao dismissed them. He placed the cannon in the ground aimed directly at Shan-Yu and the Heartless.

Mulan though, thinking of something different ran in front of him, grabbing the cannon and pointing it at the other mountain rather than directly at the target. Searching frantically for something to light the cannon; she grabbed Mushu using his fire breath to light it, sending the cannon along with Mushu soaring into the next mountain.

"Captain!" Nira exclaimed as he came around to the summit with some more of the troops.

"Look out!" Mulan shouted moving toward the Captain to get him out of the way of the oncoming avalanche.

Everything went by in a blur as the group took cover and before anyone knew it they were being scolded for keeping Mulan's true identity a secret. Mushu had given it away when he came down from being blasted into the side of the mountain. They were left alone on the mountain while the others headed down to the Imperial City to tell the Emperor that Shan-Yu was dead.

They were all heart broken by the events that had happened. But no one more than Mulan who got dressed out of her armor to the underclothes, letting her short hair down from the tie as well. She turned around to the four friends. "Sorry everyone. I'm sorry I got you in trouble." She smiled.

"It's no big deal." Sora answered, pushing it off. "So Ping…I mean Mulan, what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"Go back home." She replied, walking down the mountain.

"You know your daddy is going to be as steamed as a chicken dumpling!" Mushu stated.

Mulan sighed, thinking about how disappointed her father was going to be, it was going to crush him.

"Don't worry," Nira called out to her. "We'll take the blame for you."

She turned back to them. "Thanks. You're all wonderful friends."

They were half way down the mountain when the sound of an eagle went through the air. They looked around following the flight of Shan-Yu's falcon. They looked down to the ledge below watching as Shan-Yu climbed out of the snow along with Heartless. Shan-Yu's gaze was focused on the Imperial City; it was his next target.

"Shan-Yu!" Mulan exclaimed.

"He's alive?" Sora questioned.

"He's heading for the Imperial City. We've got to warn Shang!" Mulan stated.

The team nodded. They ran down the mountain as fast as they could beating the crap out of all the Heartless that got in their way. Before running through the streets of the Imperial City, following the troops closely but out of sight. When they entered the palace gates was when the group made their presence known. They ran by some of the troops at seemed to be lagging behind and giving off a very dark vibe towards Shang who was proudly standing in front of the group.

"Shang!" Mulan called to him. He stopped dead in his tracks. "Shan-Yu's alive! He's heading this way!" She exclaimed.

"And why should I believe you this time?" he asked, suspiciously.

"Because…she's telling the truth!" Nira snapped at the Captain.

Donald looked frustratingly at the sky and noticed in the sky was Shan-Yu's falcon. The rest of the group followed his gaze noticing where the falcon landed. On one of the buildings of the palace was Shan-Yu standing there looking smug.

He turned immediately to the other troops. "Guard the palace! Don't let the enemy get anywhere near the Emperor!" he commanded.

Ling, Yao and Chien-Po ran forward with their swords drawn but the other soldiers lacked behind. He turned to the others wondering why they weren't moving but immediately they turned into Heartless. Shang was shocked, not knowing what to do. But Mulan and the others got in front of him.

"Captain! We'll secure the courtyard, and you can save the Emperor!" Sora exclaimed.

He hesitated for a moment then Donald turned to him. "That's an order!"

Shang nodded, running up to the palace.

The whole courtyard was filled with Heartless but they were easy to dispatch with the combination of all of their powers and weapon skills. When they were all gone the group ran to the steps leading to the entrance to the palace.

There stood the Emperor, stoically, and right next to him was Shan-Yu placing a jagged sword to the Emperor's throat. "Now you'll bow to me." Shan-Yu's voice was gravelly and dark.

But then out of nowhere Shang jumped down slugging Shan-Yu until he was incapacitated enough to where Shang could get the Emperor inside the palace. Ling and Chien-Po closed the gates as quickly as they could, securing them as much as possible.

Shan-Yu recovered making his way quickly to the gates, but instead was confronted by Sora and the gang with their weapons and magic ready.

"It ends now!" Mulan exclaimed.

"Right now!"

Shan-Yu laughed darkly at the group as a dark aura appeared around his being. His heart had given into the darkness and Nira knew he was a step away from becoming one of them along with a very strong Nobody.

The group fought off Shan-Yu all the while preventing him from getting anywhere near the gates. He went directly after Nira at one moment and she could see the darkness in his eyes; there was no soul there, if there ever had been one. She shocked him with electricity to get him off her sending him far across the front gate, against one of the walls. With a couple more strikes from Sora's Keyblade, the battle was over and Shan-Yu was done for. He fell back with his sword scattering on the floor and the body disappearing into the darkness.

Mulan looked to her friends with a smile on her face.

"Now that's what I call burning some honey-bun! Awe, yeah! Mulan's the best! Mulan's the best!" Mushu went around exclaiming at the top of his lungs. He stopped. "No…wait a minute…I'm the best! Mushu's the best! Mushu's the best!"

When the coast was clear all five of them were brought before the Emperor. He walked toward them, focused on Mulan. "I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan." Mulan walked forward bowing to her leader. "You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier." Mulan's face fell. "You deceived your commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored your family name."

"We get the picture…" Sora added, disappointed with himself.

"You're a young woman. And in the end…" His face turned into a smile. "…you have saved us all." He, himself, then bowed to Mulan in respect. Mulan looked shocked when she realized what the Emperor was doing and didn't know how to react. But quickly turned around when the audience of citizens and soldiers had appeared who were all clapping for her.

Smiles appeared on the group and they began jumping up and down for joy.

Mulan turned back to the Emperor, smiling. "Your Excellency!" She exclaimed.

"Captain Li?" the Emperor questioned.

Shang bowed, taking Shan-Yu's sword to Mulan, handing it to her.

"Take this, so the world will know what it is you have done for China." The Emperor explained.

"Thank you." Mulan bowed once again.

"Mulan." Shang said her name. "Sora. Nira. Donald. Goofy." He clasped his hands and bowed. "Thank you."

The Emperor interjected. "'Thank you'? Is that all there is to say, Captain? If you wish to win the heart of, Fa Mulan, China's bravest woman, you have to be a bit more eloquent than that." He remarked, chuckling.

Shang looked embarrassed.

Mulan laughed as well.

Nira walked up to her smiled. "Can we get an autograph?" she asked, giggling.

She turned to her new friends. "Thanks for everything, you four."

"Now they GOTTA let me go back to bein' a guardian! They gotta!" Mushu spoke to himself.

"But Mushu, I thought you already WERE a guardian?" Goofy asked.

"What?" Mushu turned to the dog. "Oh, no, no—don't even worry about that; that's just real technical. Just for us guardians." He tried to dig himself out of the hole he had created by his previous statement.

"You tricked us!" Sora accused.

"Hmm? Oh, uh, heh heh, you know," He began to run away.

Mulan looked down at Shan-Yu's sword in her hand. It began to glow and lift into the air. The siblings turned around noticing this was the item to close the world. Nira let her brother close this world knowing that there would be another chance for her to close a world.

"Guess it's time to be movin' on." Goofy stated.

"You will be missed." The Emperor told them.

"Is it okay if we come back to visit?" Sora asked.

"Of course." Mulan replied with Shang coming to her side.

"We will look forward to your return." Shang added.

"You two play nice." Sora pointed to the two of them.

Shang and Mulan looked at each other, and laughed embarrassingly. They all knew that Mulan and Shang had chemistry and hoped their relationship would flourish and would make each other happy in the future.

"Goodbye, Sora, Nira, Donald, Goofy!" She called out to them with a smile on her face.


	7. Chapter VI: Beast's Castle

Chapter VI

Beast's Castle

The group went back to the Gummi Ship, heading to the next world available to them. As they travelled through the gate connecting it Nira was lost in her thoughts. She was happy for their new friends Mulan and Shang. She could see the connection they had between them. It was similar to her and Riku's connection. She was also kind of jealous because Shang and Mulan had each other presently while Riku was who knows where.

She played with the charms off of the bracelet Riku had given to her. Sure it was their connection but nothing would replace the real person she loved and treasured with all he heart.

The gate was cleared and the group was free to land in this new world. Landing outside of this giant, menacing looking castle they wondered where they were. Deciding to enter the castle they looked around the large foyer for any clues but there was nothing.

"Hey, what is this place?" Sora asked, looking around.

"It's huge!" Nira exclaimed.

"And sorta gloomy, don't ya think?" Goofy asked.

"I wonder who live here?" Nira asked.

A loud roar echoed through the castle in the next second causing them to all take a couple steps back. When it ended though it did sound strangely familiar.

"Hey, does anybody else recognize that?" Goofy asked.

There was another roar, this one quieter.

"Hey! That's the Beast!" Sora said, a smile on his face.

"Yeah." Donald agreed.

"We should check up on him." Goofy suggested.

But then sliding along the floor was a Heartless. "Look!" Nira pointed to it. It went into a room adjacent to the foyer. They followed the Heartless, entering the room cautiously.

Looking around they realized it was some sort of living room, with a fire going in the fireplace. "Where did it go?" Donald asked, finding nothing in the room. He then noticed at the far end of the room was a beautiful red rose floating in a glass cover. He was mesmerized by it, reaching out his hands to grab it but being stopped when a Shadow Heartless made itself known.

"Found it!" he screamed.

Some more Heartless appeared in the room, surrounding them. The Heartless seemed infinite after about a half hour of fighting the group just looked at the mass amount in front of them.

"Awe, c'mon. Enough already." Sora complained.

"Somebody help us!" Donald shouted.

The doors then were pushed open with great force, revealing their friend, The Beast. Nira smiled but it soon fell when she realized there was something off about him. He defeated the Heartless but something still seemed to be bugging him or corrupting him. The Beast walked by Sora, shoving him out of the way, almost like he didn't care that they were there to see him. He then shoved Donald and Goofy, with Nira just missing his grasp. He took the rose off of the table, looking at it fondly before walking out of the room, ignoring them once more. When the Beast was gone they all looked confused.

"Gee, do ya think he maybe forgot who we are?" Goofy asked.

"With this many Heartless around, something has to be up." Nira replied looking at where the Beast had exited.

"Why'd he have to do that?" Donald rubbed his face where he had landed on the ground.

The four of them walked out of the room back into the foyer. Nira looked up catching the brief glimpse of someone looking at them from the top of the stairs.

"What is it?" Sora asked, looking up where she was.

"I just saw a woman at the top of those stairs…" Nira replied pointing to where the woman had been.

"Well…if the Beast is here in the castle, that woman must be Belle, right?" Goofy suggested.

"Yeah, maybe so." Sora stated. "Belle might know what's happened to the Beast, too."

"C'mon let's go find her!"

The crew climbed the staircase to the East Wing of the castle. Walking down the hall, they reached a set of double doors at the end of it.

"What am I going to do?" A woman's voice said from inside the room.

They stood outside waiting to enter but Donald just rammed right into the room, with the door opening, knocking him clear on the ground with stars going around his head. They tried to stop him but it was futile.

"Hey! Who opened the door?" Donald yelled.

He looked up seeing Belle smiling down on him. "Oh. I'm so happy you're here!" She exclaimed taking Donald in her arms and hugging him close all the while Donald fought against her trying to get out of her grasp. "Donald!" She looked over Donald's shoulder. "Sora! Nira! Goofy!" She smiled brighter at her three other friends.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Donald flailed.

When everything was calm they got down to the questions. "Where's the Beast?" Nira asked.

She looked worried. "He must be in the West Wing. We don't talk like we used to." She was saddened.

"Did something happen?" Sora asked.

"Yes." She replied. "Isn't that why you're here?"

"Not exactly. But we can still help." Goofy reassured her.

"Since we're here and all." Nira added.

"The Beast won't talk to you?" Donald inquired.

"He's been acting strange lately." She sat down on her bed, her hands fidgeting. "The only ones who might know why are locked up in the dungeon. I want to help them, but…"

"Wait a second, who locked who up?" Sora asked, confused.

Belle looked up at him. "The Beast locked up his servants." She clarified.

"But why?" Nira asked.

"That's what I don't know." She replied.

"Hmm…" Sora thought for a moment. "Where's this dungeon?" he asked.

"You can get to the undercroft from the West Hall. The dungeon is down there." She explained, she knew every inch of this castle because she had lived there for so long.

"West Hall. Got it." Sora stated.

"Be careful!" Belle warned them before they left the room.

"We will don't worry, Belle." Nira reassured her.

They left the room defeating Heartless as they made their way to the West Hall of the castle. Everything was so regal there with suits of armor lining the halls and portraits of different people. A couple suits of armor were also blocking their way up the stairs to the rest of the wing where the Beast must be.

Their gaze focused on a door with a wardrobe blocking it. It must be the entrance to the Undercroft that Belle had told them about. Sora went to move the wardrobe blocking the door, nearly getting the entrance cleared when it came alive.

It turned to face Sora, angrily. "Do you MIND?" It scolded, moving back into position and then going back to sleep.

All of them decided that they needed to be slow when moving the wardrobe out of the way so that they didn't wake it up and have their entrance blocked again. They managed to get the task done without waking the wardrobe up again.

It woke up looking at the group, still a little bit angry. "And I was just starting to get comfortable…may I help you?" She asked the four of them.

"Huh?" Sora asked, still confused about the talking piece of furniture. "What? Oh…yeah…Belle needs us to go to the dungeon."

"Goodness!" She exclaimed. "You're here to help my friends! Well, why didn't you say so?" She asked them.

"Er…"

"I'm sorry I startled you…Oh, I used to be human, you know, until the Enchantress cast her spell. I was turned into a wardrobe when the Prince was turned into a Beast."

"The Prince is the Beast?" Donald asked.

"The Beast is a Prince?" Goofy asked as well.

The wardrobe nodded. "Oh, yes. Although, his behavior was far from princely at the time."

"What's this about a…spell?" Nira asked, intrigued about transformation magic.

The wardrobe got serious. "Well, it was a cold winter's night…"

The group became intrigued leaning in to listen to the story.

"And that's enough for now." She ended the story before it even began. "You can hear the rest when you've rescued the others. It'll give you something to look forward to." She smiled, mischeviously.

"Aww…" Donald complained.

"Hurry now, the dungeon is dam and chilly. Certainly no place for a clock!"

"A clock?" Goofy asked, puzzled.

"You'll find out soon enough."

"Alright, let's get going." Sora told the group who nodded.

They made their way into the Undercroft, looking around for Heartless or any of the imprisoned servants.

"This must be it." Sora said looking at the door ahead of them.

Donald walked ahead of the group of to the door to see if he could get it open. But then the doors came alive revealing twin Heartless, each other one hand clasped around the lock of the door.

"Uh oh!" Donald exclaimed, getting out of the way before the Heartless could reach him.

The group fought against the door, leaping out of the way of its extended arms, with Nira and Sora hacking away at the door with their Keyblades. When they were defeated, both of the Heartless writhed in pain before becoming stone once more and disappearing back into Darkness with a small orb-shaped Heartless floating right by them and through the walls of the Undercroft. The figures were gone off the door revealing the lock on the dungeon door.

"You think the dungeon's past this door?" Donald asked his friends.

"C'mon we gotta set those servants free!"

"He's right. Let's go." Sora stated walking over and opening the door.

Once in the dungeon, all they could see were regular items around the room like a teapot and cup, a clock, then a candlestick.

"There's nobody here." Goofy said.

"You mean there's nobody to rescue?" Donald asked.

"Did someone say 'rescue'?" A French-accented voice asked.

"Ssh…" Another voice added. "Keep quiet. It might be THEM!" the voice sounded nervous.

"They look like nice young people to me." A female voice joined the conversation.

"We are nice. We're your friends." Nira called out to the voices in the room. "Belle sent us to find you."

All of the items came to life, opening their eyes and coming towards them. The four of them got down to their eye level. "I'm Sora." Sora introduced himself. "This is my sister, Nira." He motioned to her. "And our friends Donald and Goofy."

Donald lunged forward grabbing the clock. "…Don't touch! I-I'm self-winding, sir!" The clock exclaimed trying to prevent Donald from touching him, he then began shaking him while Goofy watched.

"We're glad you're okay."

The candlestick moved over to one of the chairs. "It is we who are overjoyed to see you!" He exclaimed.

"Did somebody put a spell on you guys, too?" Goofy asked.

"Yes, that's right…You've heard! It was the Enchantress." The clock, who's name was Cogsworth, said.

The candlestick, Lumiere, crossed his arms. "It seems so long ago…" His face was solemn.

"It was a cold winter's night…an old beggar woman came to the castle, and asked for shelter." Mrs. Potts, the teapot, explained.

"But the master of his castle, this is of course, the Prince…" Donald opened Cogsworth's front and began playing with the pendulum in the middle. "Stop that! Put me down, this instant!" he snapped at the duck. Donald obeyed, placing him back on the chair, collecting himself Cogsworth continued. "The master turned her away. All because of her, ahem, meager appearance."

"That's awful!" Nira commented, she never thought that the Beast could be so cruel.

"Oui, he was a spoiled Prince, so selfish and…how shall I say…cruel."

"Lumiere!" Cogsworth scolded.

"The only woman warned our master not to be deceived by appearances…Still, he would not take her in."

"Then the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress."

"She turned the Prince into a beast, a shape she thought fitting for his cold heart. And to further punish him, everyone in the castle was enchanted, too."

"Wow…that's quite a story." Sora said, taking it all in.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Goofy asked the servants.

"Let's get the enchantress!" Donald exclaimed.

"Oh no dear," Mrs. Potts told Donald.

"We already know what has to be done, but with the master out of sorts…"

Sora looked at them. "He sure is acting weird." He commented.

"It's almost like he's forgotten who his true friends are." Nira added, when she had been near the Beast, darkness had started seep into his mind, something was corrupting him she just didn't know what or who was behind it.

"You don't suppose he's been turned into a Heartless, do you?" Cogsworth asked.

"Heartless?!" Three of the four friends jumped back, shocked.

"If they're a part of this, then it's a good thing we're here." Sora said.

"Let's go find the Beast."

"Splendid!" Cogsworth exclaimed.

Lumiere jumped off of the chair he was on and walked to the door of the dungeon. "Follow me, madame and messieurs. I know a shortcut."

They followed Lumiere and the other servants up to the next level of the Undercroft where there were two suits of armor guarding the entrance to other part of the Undercroft.

"Allow our guests to pass." Cogsworth told them.

Moving out of the way, a door opened allowing them access to the other part of the Undercroft. Sora, Nira and the others walked through.

"Alright, how do we get out of here?" Sora asked, looking around.

"I'm afraid we won't be marching out that easily." Lumiere replied. "You see the door leading to the other side is concealed by a sort of contraption."

"What kind of contraption?" Nira asked.

"Observe." Cogsworth said, moving to a crank on the wall pushing it down to reveal a lantern with a dark aura around it.

"The lantern came down." Donald observed.

"Indeed it did." Lumiere said. "If we could light all the lanterns in this passage the secret door would open…"

"But, as you can see, the lanterns are already burning—with an enchanted flame."

"You must put out this enchanted flame before I am able to light the lanterns properly." Lumiere explained.

"Can't ya just throw water on them?" Goofy suggested.

"I'm afraid that's not enough. But if you use the power of light…"

"Hmm…how about Nira and I trying using our Keyblades?" Sora asked, Nira nodded in agreement.

Nira summoned her Keyblade and pointed it at the lantern. In an instant the dark flames in the lantern were gone being replaced by a bright flame from Lumiere.

"Bravo!" Lumiere jumped up and down.

"Only three more lanterns left." Mrs. Potts said.

The two Keyblade wielders went through the passage doing as much as they could to put out the dark flames before Cogsworth let go of the cranks. When they were all out they looked around for a door to open. "Are we all set?" Sora asked them.

"Oui, the secret door should be open now."

A block in the wall across from them pushed out of the wall a bit. "Just push that block over there."

Sora walked over, pushing the block, revealing a door leading to the West Wing of the castle.

"I must check on the kitchen. I have been absent for far too long." Lumiere said as he exited the Undercroft.

"I best be off too, dears." Mrs. Potts said.

"Be careful, and watch out for Heartless." Nira warned them.

Cogsworth turned to them. "The master's room is at the very end of the West Wing. I shall go on ahead and wait for you."

When everyone was gone the group followed quickly after going through the passageway. When they finally realized where they were it was a relief to finally see candlelight again. Sora opened the doors to the West Wing and once again it was like the Undercroft, everything was completely dark like the life had been sucked out of it. In her bones, Nira could feel that a dark presence was near, something more powerful than the Heartless. They made it through the hallways to the double doors which had to be the Beast's room.

The Beast was at the far end of the room, with his back turned to them. "It's time you dealt with Belle." A male voice told him. "She's scheming to take everything you have. This castle, your precious rose. And then—your life! Trust no one, feed your anger." He commanded. "Only anger will keep you strong!"

"I've had enough of strength. There's only one thing I want…" The Beast replied to the mysterious man.

"What? To love and be loved in return?" He questioned, crossing his arms. "Who could ever love a Beast?"

The Beast growled, turning around to the mysterious man.

The man turned to see Sora, Nira and the others at the entrance of the room. "See? She has accomplices." He pointed out.

Sora, Donald and Goofy walked casually towards the Beast while Nira stayed back, knowing that it was not safe to be going near the Beast, he was too unpredictable. The Beast roared at them, causing them to lose their footing.

"Oh, dear! Master!" Cogsworth called to him.

He lashed out at them, nearly nicking Sora in the side with one of his claws. The Beast was totally beside himself and he needed to be brought back to his senses. The group needed to keep him from hurting others while Cogsworth used his loud chimes in order to snap the Beast back to right thinking. The Beast fell to the floor clutching his head as he looked around the room.

His eyes met Cogsworth's. "Cogsworth…what happened?" he asked, confused.

"Well, master…ah, you see…that is…how shall I say…ah, actually…mmm." He was at a loss for words in how to explain what had happened over the past weeks.

"Well, you put everyone down there in that dungeon!" Donald scolded.

"I did what?" the Beast asked, confused.

"Ah, you did!" Cogsworth affirmed.

"Who was that man you were talking to?" Sora asked. "The one in black?"

The Beast looked shocked, remembering the man who had corrupted him. "Xaldin, that's his name. He came from the darkness…he…used my anger to control me. He took all my sorrow, my sadness, my pain—and turned it all to rage." He looked down at his paws. "There was nothing I could do…I could no longer see the truth." His voice was pained.

"Well I'll be. That must be why you threw all your friends down there in the dungeon. You wanted to make sure you didn't hurt 'em, right?" Goofy suggested, he was forever the optimist.

"Was that it? Was it to protect them?" The Beast questioned.

"Sure. We know you're good inside." Nira reassured him, smiling brightly.

"They're right, master. We've all seen how kind you can be. After all…Belle can see the goodness in your heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to…"

"Belle!" The Beast remembered the girl who had showed him so much kindness and caring. He lowered his head, sadness entering his voice. "I've mistreated her…I've mistreated her and been so selfish." He hung his head in shame.

"She didn't say anything about that." Sora said to the Beast.

"She'd never tell anyone of my cruelty…she's too good." The Beast retorted.

Cogsworth whispered to the others. "You see, I'm afraid he judges himself far too harshly."

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Sora suggested.

"But…" The Beast doubted himself.

"Now excuses! C'mon, we'll go with you!" Sora told him.

The Beast agreed to come with them to speak to Belle. He might have been back in his right mind, but there was still something troubling him, racking him with guilt about what he had done to the people who did nothing but care for him. Of course the group knew it hadn't been the Beast's fault that Xaldin, who was probably part of the Organization, had tried to corrupt him into surrendering to the darkness in his heart. The man had wanted to change the Beast into a Heartless and therefore gain control over his Nobody. They were just happy they had gotten there before he had completely surrendered and hurt or even killed someone.

When they were back in the East Wing, they walked into Belle's room but she wasn't there. Instead the wardrobe from before was standing there.

"Master!" the wardrobe exclaimed surprised to see he was back to normal.

"Everybody's safe now." Donald told her.

"Wonderful! Thank you!" She replied, happily.

"Where is Belle?" The Beast asked, worried for her.

"Why, she left in a hurry, something about going after this…man in black."

"What?!" The Beast roared in frustration. "Why doesn't she do what she's told?"

The wardrobe turned around, her nose in the air. "Temper, temper. Her spirit is what makes Belle so special." She told him about the woman.

"We'd better go find her." Nira commented.

They left the room heading down the hall back to the foyer of the castle.

"I'm warning you. You'll be sorry!" Belle's voice echoed through the foyer.

"Belle! Where are you?" The Beast called out to her.

"Beast! Help, I'm in the ballroom!" She called from behind the large doors at the top of the stairs.

The group ran through the doors of the ballroom. It was bright unlike any other part of the castle with a large chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. It was glorious.

"Belle!" Beast called out to her as she made her way to the end of the ballroom where the doors leading to the balcony were.

"I'm alright." She called back to him shutting the doors behind her.

A Heartless covered in chains turned to face the friends. It floated into the air, sending its energy in the floor of the ballroom, making it act like a completely separate entity. It roared as the whole ballroom was covered from floor to ceiling in Darkness. This was the hardest onslaught by far with the creature disappearing into the walls and the floors sending beams of energy towards them. Not to mention once the Heartless was defeated it turned into an even more powerful Heartless that would get on the chandelier and spin it around trying to hit any of the group. It was one of the hardest Heartless by far but it was managed to be taken out, everything seemed to stand still as there was one last roar emitted from the Heartless before disappearing back into the Darkness where it had come from in the first place.

"We did it!" Sora exclaimed.

"So you think." A voice said from behind them.

They turned around with the Beast bounding after the man in black. "Xaldin!" There was nothing but pure hatred in his voice; he was out for blood now.

"Farewell." Xaldin disappeared through a portal before the Beast or the others could get to him.

"What does he want here?"

"He must be with Organization XIII." Nira explained. "Ever heard of Nobodies?" She asked the Beast, when he looked at her clueless she continued. "When a stronger hearted person turns into a Heartless, a Nobody is created too. The Organization has control over all these Nobodies."

"That's right and they were gonna make you into a Heartless." Goofy added in on the information. "That way they could get that Nobody of yours and have control over it."

Belle came out from the balcony smiling at her friends. "You're alright."

"Belle!" the Beast rushed over to her.

The four of them watched the interaction between the two.

"Belle…I-I'm so sorry—I wasn't myself." The Beast apologized. "I hope I haven't done anything to hurt you."

Belle smiled brightly at the Beast, shaking he head to assure him she wasn't hurt. He smiled back at her, in relief. "Forgive me." He weakly pleaded.

"I know you weren't yourself. You don't need to apologize." She replied to him. Her facial expression then changed to one of scolding. "But I had hoped…that you might have changed a little bit." She sighed. "I wish you could start trusting me." She folded her arms and turned away from him, looking frustrated and hurt.

The Beast sighed.

"Oh I am afraid time is running short." Lumiere commented.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Remember the rose?" Lumiere asked.

"From the Beast's room?" Donald inquired.

"Precisely, see if the master can learn to love, and earn love in return, before the last petal falls…"

"The spell will be broken!" Lumiere finished Cogsworth's sentence.

"Really?" Sora looked at the couple. "You think he's gonna make it?"

"Of course he will, Sora. Yee of little faith." Nira shook her head smiling.

Mrs. Potts interjected. "Nira is right. We think he's going to make it."

"Yep, I think you're right!" Goofy exclaimed.

"I HOPE you're right…" Sora added, Nira rolling her eyes at him.

There was a flash of light, and Nira's Keyblade appeared in her hand. She took the position to close the world, in another room in the castle a bright light shone out from the rose. A lock appeared in the sky, pointing to the lock, Nira watched as the world was sealed, and causing the gate to be open permanently.

"The gate is open!" Donald exclaimed.

"Do you have to go?" Belle asked her friend, sadly.

"Yeah." Sora replied.

"Now no more arguin' okay?" Goofy told them.

The Beast looked to Belle then turned away quickly, scratching his fur. Belle just smiled at him.

"We'll see to it!" Lumiere assured the four friends.

"You are welcome here anytime!" Cogsworth told them his arms open wide.

Nira looked to them. "If you hear anything about Riku or the King, the Heartless, the Organization—anything at all—let us know!" She told them.

They all nodded before watching as their friends left going back into the Gummi Ship and onto the next world that needed their help.


	8. Interlude One: Winnie the Pooh

Interlude I

Winnie the Pooh

When the group was back in the Gummi Ship, Sora tried to steer towards the next world but for some reason the Gummi Ship would not listen to them. All of them looked puzzled because it had never happened before.

"Huh?" Goofy asked, confused.

"Hey, wait a minute…is the ship moving all on its own?" Sora questioned, trying to work the mechanics of the ship but it just wouldn't work.

Nira looked out the window noticing the ship's path. "Yeah, it looks like we're heading back to Hollow Bastion." She told them.

Back in Hollow Bastion, the crew walked through the alleys towards Merlin's house. "I wonder what's up." Sora asked to the group, still wondering why they were back there in the first place. They turned the corner where Merlin's house would be and the door was wide open. Watching from a distance, three armored Heartless left Merlin's house, but before they could get rid of them they disappeared.

"C'mon."

They entered Merlin's house to find the wizard on the ground. He stood up shakily.

"Well, now…took your time, did you?" he scolded them.

"Oh, was it you that summoned us, Merlin?" Goofy asked.

"Yes, yes," he replied. "But it seems I used too much power in doing so, and the infernal Heartless…"

"So what's up?" Sora asked.

He looked through one of the drawers in his house. "Well, I happened to stumble across this in the Zero District." He then shook his head using his magic to make a book appear. He handed the book to Donald and the group looked at it with smiles on their faces.

"Pooh's storybook!" Nira exclaimed.

"That's right." Merlin told them. "I know you're good friends of Winnie the Pooh, Sora and Nira—that's why I summoned you. And when I did, I was attacked by the Heartless. Of course, I fought back with some rather powerful magic, but then I began to fear the book would be damaged, so I…" He stopped all of the sudden. "Now just a moment, Leon and the others need to hear this too. I-I'd better go find them. Be back in a jiffy!"

He disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the four behind in his home with the book.

"I wonder how Pooh's doing?" Sora asked, taking a look at the book.

"Wanna find out?" Donald asked.

"Yeah!" Sora exclaimed.

"Sora, are you sure we should I mean Merlin said we should wait until he finds Leon and the others." Nira commented unsure if she wanted to go into the book along with her brother.

"Come on, Nira! We haven't seen Pooh in so long, we should at least pop in and say hello." Sora retaliated to her, his blue eyes turning into the eyes that would cause a frozen heart to melt.

"Alright, open the book, Donald." Nira sighed.

Donald opened the book showing the different parts of the Hundred Acre Wood.

"Sora, Nira." Goofy whispered to them.

"Cover for us okay?" Sora asked.

Magic enveloped the two siblings as they entered the storybook that contained one of their dearest friends. In the next second they were walking through the Hundred Acre Wood looking around at the most beautiful sky they had ever seen in their lives. It was always beautiful there, then again it was a storybook so it had to be beautiful.

Sora and Nira walked down the path towards Pooh's house. They found the bear sitting outside of his home on a log looking like he was thinking about something. He looked the same with his red sweater and puzzled look on his face. He smiled when he noticed they were there.

"Hey, Pooh Bear! How you doing? Finding enough honey, lately?" Sora asked leaning down to Pooh's eye level.

"Oh yes." Pooh replied. "In fact, I was just about to do my stoutness exercises." He told them. Nira smiled at the bear and how sweet he always was no matter what the situation was.

"Would you care to join me, Sora and Nira?" he asked.

They nodded, happily to go along with the bear.

Pooh jumped off of the log but all of the sudden paused in mid-air. Sora and Nira looked at each other confused by what was happening.

"Pooh?" Sora asked walking towards the bear, but before he could touch him the two were sent flying out of the book.

Hitting the ground of Merlin's house with a thud, they watched as the book closed. Reeling over the fact they were jetted out of the book it took a moment for them to collect themselves and shake off the bruises.

"Sora! Nira! Hurry up!" They heard the sound of Donald's voice from outside of the house.

Running immediately through the door it was like they were bombarded by Heartless. When they were fully outside and ready to fight, Goofy turned around and asked. "Did ya bring the book with ya?" he asked.

The two of them looked back to the home and watched as three Heartless walked out, one carrying the book with them.

"Hey!"

"Give that back!"

The group went after the Heartless who had stolen the book from Merlin's house. Fighting them off they managed to get them to retreat, dropping the book on the floor.

Sora took it in his hands. "Think its okay?" he asked.

"Gwarsh, maybe ya better go back and make sure Pooh's alright." Goofy suggested.

"But what about Merlin?" Donald asked, thinking about the wizard and what would happen if they got caught.

"Well, I guess we could explain…"

"Great." Sora and Nira said at the same time before going back into the book to check on their friend. Sora and Nira were back in the Hundred Acre Wood but something was different. As they looked out across the surroundings there was nothing but the small area where they were. It was like the rest of the book had been erased.

"Pooh!" Nira called as she noticed their friend back to sitting on his usual log.

Sora got down on to the eye level of the bear along with Nira on the other side of him. "We're glad you're alright, Pooh." Sora told him.

"And I'm glad you two came to visit." It seemed for a second that he remembered them. "But you see, I was just about to do my stoutness exercises. Perhaps we could visit a bit later—people I don't know…"

Nira and Sora looked at each other concerned, something had definitely happened and it was effecting Pooh's memory. "Oh, okay, sure." Nira replied as Pooh jumped off of the log and began his exercises.

They decided to ask him some more questions to see if what was happening had effected Pooh's memories of his other friends.

"So…how's Piglet these days?" Sora asked.

"I don't think I know anyone by that name." Pooh replied, continuing his exercises. This deeply worried Sora and Nira. "Now where was I? Oh, yes, my stoutness exercises." He continued on.

"There's something very weird going on here." Nira stated to her brother, who nodded in agreement. "Maybe we'd better go back and ask Merlin about this?"

When they were back in Hollow Bastion, they saw Merlin talking with both Donald and Goofy. Merlin turned around to look at the teenagers. "Couldn't be bothered to wait for an old wizard, eh?" he asked them, disappointed.

"Sorry about that." Sora apologized.

"How are things in there?" Merlin asked.

"Well…Pooh seems to have forgotten all about us." Nira replied to Merlin's question. "And not just us—all of his other friends too."

Merlin and the others looked shocked. "I was afraid of that…" he walked over to where the book was on a table. He opened it up and most of the pages were missing from the book. "It suspect is has something to do with those pages the Heartless stole. You'll have to collect the torn pages and repair the books to put things right." He told the four of them. "The book is one of the world's most cherished elements. I'd been meaning to tell Leon I'd found it, but perhaps we should be able to keep it between us for now."

"We will!" All of them exclaimed.

"Good, good…" Merlin nodded. "Now the book isn't all that cherished…this is for you, Sora and Nira." He handed them a necklace with a charm on the end of it.

"What is it?" Sora asked.

"Just concentrate on it with either one of your hearts and it will allow you to summon an ally who will help in times of need."

"Like Simba and Mushu did the last time we were here?" Goofy asked.

"Precisely. Now go forth with your friends by your side." Merlin sent them forth.

"Thanks Merlin! We're worried about Pooh, so we'll be back once we've found those torn pages." Nira told the wizard before exiting his home going back towards where they had landed the Gummi Ship.


End file.
